


The Yearbook

by Janeiina



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, First Time, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Niff, Oral Sex, Romance, Shower Sex, Slow Build, Virginity, some Non-Con elements, that takes a while though, there will be smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 16:18:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 55,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janeiina/pseuds/Janeiina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff is nervous about the yearbook, but why? Nick tries to find out and discovers some things for himself that are about to affect them both. Niff relationship, sort of Slow build with a non-con part at some point, and Warbler shenanigans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Floodlighted

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on ff.net. Still not really beta'd.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or anything you might recognize.

"I'm nervous, Nicky, " the tall blond said to the boy standing next to him in front of their mirror. His hands were tensing up, failing at tying his tie correctly.

"Relax, Jeffie," the brunet said with a smile. "There is nothing to be nervous about." He gently pushed Jeff's hands aside and began to tie his tie for him. "It's just a stupid photo."

"Yeah, and I suck at photos. And this is, like, the yearbook, dude. With this special seat of honor for the Warblers. That's us!" _Oh boy._ Nick couldn't suppress his grin. He had seen his best friend nervous before, especially before auditioning, but not like this. Let alone over something this trivial. Either he was losing it or there was something else going on. Usually, his blond friend was confidence personified, always a smirk on the lips, a sparkle in his soft brown eyes... _Whoa._ Where had that come from?

 _Anyways_ , Nick had noticed a change in his friend's behavior over the course of a few weeks now. He had noticed a lot about Jeff recently, but he'd rather not go there.

"There you go," he patted both his palms on Jeff's chest after he was done with the tie. His eyes and hands lingered a bit longer on the blond boy than necessary. He caught himself staring and swiftly looked up to give his friend a reassuring smile. "You look great, don't worry too much," he added with a wink and went back to solving his own problem. Namely, the brown mess that others might call hair.

 _He thinks I look great..._ Jeff was smiling. He wasn't quite sure why this photo was so important to him. Maybe, because he had been fantasizing about showing it to his children and grandchildren. _Look, this is me and this.. is your grandfather.._ Wow, he was messed up. Nick was his best friend in the world and thinking about him in _that_ kind of way was just awkward. Sure, he loved him, but not like that. Right?

Right.

He took the comb from his best friend's hands and started to fix his hair for him. In return for the tie thing, of course. Not because he liked touching his friend's hair or something. He laughed lightly. _Convincing as always, Sterling._ The brunet watched him through tousled bangs, uncertain about how to react. "What are you... Oh. Well, thanks."

"You need all the help you can get with _this_ ," Jeff answered, pulling at some strains of hair, showing them to Nick in the mirror. The brunet sighed. "I know." His gaze wandered from his reflection to the tall boy, whose face was so close to his own that if he leaned in only a bit, he might touch it with his nose. His heart quickened as he set eyes on Jeff's lips right in front of him. Nick knew he was staring, but the blond didn't notice, so whatever.. Might as well.

Jeff bit his bottom lip in concentration and Nick's eyes widened with desire. _Whoa, hormones, what the hell? This is Jeff._ Jeff _, for God's sake. My best friend, who is not interested in me. So, shut up!_

"Nick?" The soft voice snapped him out of it. Trying to cover the hunger in his eyes, he put on a confused expression before looking at his best friend, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck "You kind of zoned out there," the blond said, eyes fixated on hazel ones. _Are his pupils, like, dilated? That's so..hot?_ Nick flashed him a smile and, after briefly hugging Jeff, dragged him by the blazer towards the door.

"Let's go, Jeffie! Time for that damn photo!"

  


*

  


"Now, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Nick nudged his friend's arm, leaning into him. The photos had taken up their entire morning, although Nick'd been done pretty early, since they were sent in in alphabetical order. Jeff, however, had been on pins and needles for a lot longer, repeatedly cursing his last name. Now, in the Warbler's practice room, he finally relaxed on one of the sofas. He had plunked down next to his favorite brunet and sighed out loud, happy that it was over.

"Yeah, whatever, Nicky." The blond sounded exhausted and slightly pissed, but he leaned back into Nick nonetheless, his head on top of his friend's. "I can't believe we are having practice today. Too tired.." Jeff got off track, eyes closed and breathing deepening. Who would have guessed that school plus worrying all day could be this trying? At least he got an excuse to be close to his best friend, semi-nestling into the brunet as he was about to doze off.

Nick felt the blond move in closer, rubbing his head against his own that rested on Jeff's shoulder. Soft light strains of hair fell into his face, making him smile happily. This wasn't weird, was it? They were just tired, that's all. And that he had to withstand the urge to take Jeff's hand was something he'd ponder over at a later time. For now, he enjoyed the closeness of his friend, drifting off next to him.

The sound of the door jolted the boys awake. Jeff nearly jumped as it banged shut, looking disoriented around the room. He felt some weight removing itself from his shoulder. _Ah, Nick was there._ _Where..? Warblers practice, alright. And Nick.. was there. Right there._ The blond's heart began to beat faster, a blush crept up his cheeks and he turned his attention to the Warblers who had just entered the room. Wes, walking to the main desk, was swinging his gavel with David hot on his heels.

"Warbler Nick, Warbler Jeff," Wes greeted them with a nod. "Where is everybody?"

"Huh?" Nick blinked a few times, he was more tired than he'd thought. He straightened, feeling his best friend stiffen next to him. David gave Wesley a suggestive look, nodding towards the boys on the sofa. _Gotcha!_

"I dunno, Wes. We came in only, like, ten minutes ago," Jeff told the council member. He rubbed his eyes and awkwardly leaned away from his best friend. By and by, the others showed up for rehearsal, which ended up being rather short for Warbler standards. Jeff didn't mind. All he wanted to do was take a bath or something and go to bed. Like, an hour ago. Wes released them with some new dance routines to practice over the weekend. Nick grumbled lowly to himself. Dancing was really not his strong point, although he was by far not the worst dancer among the Warblers. He sighed and rose from the sofa, giving his sleepy friend a leg-up.

Hands still linked together, they left the practice room last. Nick was blushing as they stepped out the door, but he knew that Jeff probably didn't even notice their holding hands. Tired Jeff was merely a slow Jeff and Nick was degraded to walking aid and muffled noise in the background. It was really kind of cute.

Nick let go of the blond's hand and tried to support him with an arm around the waist. "Come on, Jeffie, let's get you into bed," and they trembled on towards the dorms. Barely making it to their room, once there, Jeff fell face first into the mattress. _Bath can wait._ He turned his head and smiled at his friend, eyes half closed. "Care to join me?"

Nick's face crimsoned immediately. There was a long pause of silence until he managed to decide what to do. "O-Okay," the brunet finally answered while he took off his shoes and blazer. He self-consciously crawled beside his friend onto the bed. Jeff had turned to his side, so that Nick could lay on his back. The blond sat up briefly to take off the uncomfortable blazer. Nick took a deep breath. He lifted his right arm for Jeff to use as a pillow as he lay back next to his best friend. Gratefully, the blond leaned into him and put his arm around Nick's waist. They usually didn't snuggle or stuff like that. Well, on movie nights, maybe, but this was just an ordinary afternoon. However, it didn't feel weird or anything. Nick smiled happily as he sensed his friend nestling into him and relaxed into his touch.

Jeff was already dozing off again, but he tried to enjoy their moment nonetheless. He inhaled Nick's nice scent that always surrounded him, a mixture of the aftershave he'd given him and something sweet and simply Nick. His friend's hand was lightly petting his shoulder and it sent a tingle running through his body as Jeff felt it moving upwards. Nick was running his fingers along the blond's neck and into his hair until he started stroking it gently. Under the brunet's touch, Jeff took another audible breath, his face buried into Nick's chest, and pulled him closer, wrapping his arm tighter around his best friend. And before he could bother his head about what he was in fact doing there, he had already fallen asleep.

Nick wasn't able to sleep at all. He was still subconsciously petting his friend's hair while agonizing over his new found feelings for Jeff. If there were any. _Well, of course there are, look at your hand!_ But there shouldn't be. The brunet was confused, so he tried to get his facts straight and write a mental list: _Nick Duval. Dalton Academy. Warbler. Best friend: Jeff Sterling, also a Warbler. They lived together. Jeff was straight... Maybe?_ Nick paused for he didn't really know, so he eventually deleted that one and went back on track _._ _They lived together. He liked living with his best friend. Their friendship was the most important thing to him. Jeff was the most important person in his life. He didn't want to mess them up._ He faltered again. If he continued this, then there might be no way in not screwing things up.

Nick opened his eyes and looked down at blonde hair moving up and down with every breath he took. _Most important person,_ he thought and smiled. _But.. who am I? Who are we?_ This was not working. He sighed, watching his hand move through light strains of hair, and made a decision. On his own he was never going to figure things out, he had no experience with this kind of stuff. He needed to talk to someone..

_Kurt!_


	2. Plotting

Warbler practice on the following day was excruciating. Nick sat all but comfortably beside his best friend and _that_ never happened before. To crown it all, Wes and David were busy adding moves to the choreography they were all supposed to master over the weekend. _Great. Just great._

Jeff, on the other hand, was on fire about the dance. He loved it, the dancing, and Nick kind of loved to watch him. Being a good Warbler and all, Nick tried the moves himself, but mostly failed, blushing heavily as he stumbled into Thad a couple of times. The steps weren't that hard, but the brunet kept being distracted by Jeff kidding around with the others and his tall body moving in front of him. Well, might as well call it by its name. Nick was staring again. At the blond's broad shoulders, the toned back showing through his shirt, strong but slender legs moving perfectly to the beat. His... _Well, yep_ , his ass. That too. Nick was staring at his best friend's ass. _Not helping- at all._

As he stood there, sort of lost in thought, Kurt bumped into him. "Hey, Nick, watch out," he snapped, then haltered, watching the brunet intensely. "Were you just... checking Jeff out?" he whispered.

Nick looked at Kurt in shock, quickly elbowing him. "Psst! Would you keep it down?", he hissed, being seized with panic. "Let's talk later," he added in a more apologetic tone. "Please?" Nick looked around warily, but none of the other Warblers seemed to have noticed their short exchange.

"Sure," Kurt answered, surprised by the sudden request.

For the rest of their meeting, the chestnut haired boy kept an eye on Warbler Nick. The brunet tried hard not to tout Jeff, that was obvious. _He totally checked him out earlier.._ Kurt smiled. He couldn't wait for that conversation to happen and quickly texted Blaine not to wait for him. The curly haired boy looked at him questioningly from across the room, but Kurt only mouthed a "Later" at him. As expected, Nick stayed behind after practice while Jeff was standing in the doorway, waiting for him.

"No need to hold up, Jeffie. I'm meeting someone."

"Oh, okay," the blond said, confused about who his best friend might meet without him. _I'm meeting someone._ That sounded weird, secretive. Does he.. have a boyfriend or something? Why didn't he say anything about it? About him. Her? The blond glanced around the room. Only Wes and Kurt were still there, but Wesley had a girlfriend and Kurt had Blaine, so what the hell was going on? And why did this bother him so much? Confused and hurt, Jeff eventually left the practice room. It was probably nothing.

"So," Kurt said enthusiastically when they were finally alone. "You and Jeff, huh?" Within a moment, Nick's face was flushed again. "You are obviously into him, I can tell."

"You think? I don't know, Kurt." Nick ran a hand through his dark hair, tousling it in every direction. "Sure, I have these feelings, but honestly, I have no idea what they are supposed to mean." The brunet flopped himself in one of the sofas, while Kurt sat down on an arm, mulling what he just said over in his head.

"About what kind of feelings are we talking here exactly?" he asked after a while. Nick sighed, but said nothing. "Well, try to put it into your own words. _What_ do you actually feel when you see Jeff, for example." Kurt didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"He makes me happy. Always has."

The brunet was searching for words, trying to explain, mostly to himself really, what was going other than that. "But lately... I catch myself watching him. You know, his body and stuff. I want to touch him, but it's also more than just the physical. I want to be _close_ to him, like, all the time. It's very distracting."

Kurt was once more watching the look on Nick's face. His eyes lit up when he was talking about the blond Warbler and it seemed like he couldn't stop the involuntary smile that was sneaking onto his lips. _He's in love and doesn't know it. That's kinda sad.._ "I don't know, though, if this is just a phase or something.. Maybe it'll pass and I can go back to having purely amicable feelings for him," Nick continued.

"Want to hear my opinion on this?" Kurt interrupted. Nick had practically admitted to wanting more than friendship from Jeff, but he was so doubting, it was frustrating.

"Yes, please! I'm lost here." the brunet replied hopefully. Kurt snorted. "Obviously." _Gotta be smart, Hummel._ The 'you are in love, you idiot' kind of approach will just scare him away. As well as the 'you are gay, deal with it' one.

"So, you are saying that you care about Jeff, more than usual, but you're confused and don't know what your true feelings are?" Nick nodded blankly. "I'd say you need to sort things out on your own. Sorry. I can't help you find, like, the depth of your love for him or your.. sexual orientation." Nick winced slightly. _Just what I thought.. Afraid of the big G word._ Kurt quickly continued.

"You should back away from Jeff for a while and see what will come of it, I guess. A little distance always helps to clear things up.." Another idea crossed his mind. "You know, we could change rooms, if you want to? For example.."

"Distance, huh? I can do that," Nick said thoughtfully. "And that's really going to help?"

"Sure, without a distraction you should be able to figure this out in a few days, don't you think?" Kurt winked reassuringly at the brunet. "I'll fake a fight with Wes and then we could switch rooms until he and I 'make up'." He was doing the air quotes, smiling triumphantly at his wonderful plan. "How 'bout that?"

And that was that. They decided to suit the action to the word on the same night, hence Kurt went immediately down to work to make this happen. He felt like a mentor, just like Blaine. Well, Nick and he weren't going to get together, though. This was some other kind of mentoring, more plotting than anything else, but Kurt was enjoying himself. Even during the fake fight with Wes that everyone on their floor was able to witness. _Acting, like a pro._ Yeah, Kurt was having fun.

Jeff, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to most of this. However, it stung him that later that night he was sort of forced to room with Kurt. Not that he didn't like him, that wasn't it. Jeff stood in their bathroom, gazing at white tiles, and wondered _what_ was actually bothering him.. And it hit him.

When Kurt came to ask for a place to sleep, Nick had been so fast in offering his own bed. He seemed to be glad about the opportunity, even.. to leave Jeff behind and sleep in a dorm room with... _Wes?_ So it was Wes, after all. The blond froze in front of the mirror, coping with the realization, eventually leaving the cold room to curl up in his bed. He felt like crying, missing his friend's body heat, not really able to understand why, though. Nick was his best friend, Jeff should be happy for him. So, why couldn't he?

"Too bad that Blaine doesn't live on campus, huh? What was that fight with Wes about, anyway?" he asked Kurt later that night. But all he got as an answer was an "I don't wanna talk about it". So that wasn't very helpful either. Or friendly, for that matter.

Meanwhile, it took Nick three days to finally realize _it_. Friday night, it just made _click_ and all of a sudden it was clear as glass. He loved Jeff. Not simply in a platonic way as his best friend, but he was _in love with him_. His smile, his hair, eyes, his goofiness, also his hotness. Yes, Jeff was hot. _So hot._ Although they'd known each other for years, Nick hadn't seen that side of his friend.. Until now. He missed the blond awfully, but he wasn't quite sure how to drop the bombshell when he'd go back. _Just take it easy,_ he told himself.

For Jeff, these three days went by super slowly. All he noticed was that Nick wasn't around a lot. They barely talked or saw each other until, on Saturday, the brunet moved back into their room. Kurt had apparently made up with the council member and everything went back to normal. Almost everything.

Jeff couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there it was. Something different. He had missed his best friend so much, it had been almost unbearable and he even started to question their relationship. Well, _friendship._ They were  not a couple. _What the devil, brain?_ But still, Jeff pondered over the idea for a while. Was this maybe one of those Freudian slip thingies? He spent his whole Friday wondering about Nick, his smile and his voice. The way they laughed together and how badly he wanted him to be near right now, to be able to touch his face. How nothing could separate them.. until that week, since, of course, they _were_ separated now. _Damn Wes and damn Kurt as well._ Jeff went to sleep pretty late that night, his jealousy keeping him awake, but in the end he came to the conclusion that it was best if he never thought about his best friend in _that_ way ever again. Too complicated. Too hurtful. _But..._ wasn't Nick worth it? Could they have a future together, like he'd imagined? _No, no way.._

As Nick reached his own door on Saturday morning, he was the happiest he'd been in months. He took a deep breath before entering the room. Nick stepped inside and there _he_ was. "Jeffie!" the brunet exclaimed, running to his best friend and hugging him tightly. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he felt Jeff hug him back just as hard. "Nicky! Thank God you're back.."


	3. Murky

They stood in the middle of their dorm room for quite a while, until, finally, Jeff leaned back and looked into Nick's hazel eyes. The brunet, on the other hand, had his gaze locked on the blond's lips and felt tempted to lean in again. It would have been so easy.. However, he managed to pull himself together.

"You will never believe what Wes.." he blurted out.

"Man, it was horrible. Kurt.." Jeff began simultaneously.

Stopping abruptly, the boys looked at each other, chuckling. They hadn't talked across each other like that in a long time, it seemed. Nick rubbed the back of his neck and stepped slightly out of their embrace.

"You first," he smiled and put his bag down.

"Okay, as I said. Horrible! Either Kurt was taking up the bathroom, and I nearly had a heart attack, like twice, when he came out with green stuff all over his face.. Or he was with Blaine. All. The. Freaking. Time. Even when our dear Mr. Perry wasn't physically here.. Dude, they were always on the phone or something.." His mouth was twisted in disgust, but Nick took no pity on him. He had had his own fair share of craziness over the last days. Instead, he smirked at the blond and perked up his brows. "Jealous?"

Jeff snorted, but he was clearly blushing. Nick decided not to mention it, though. "Tsk! As if.." the blond mumbled, turning away as he felt heat creeping up his face, and sat down on his bed. This was not where he wanted this conversation to go at all, so he tried to divert the attention away from himself. "You were saying? About Wes?" To be honest, Jeff was actually curious. He'd been suspicious about Nick and the council member and, not being sure how to handle this the right way, he decided that knowing the truth would be best.

"Yeah, well. I don't know how Kurt, or Christina for that matter, can handle it, but Wes on his own is quite the freak show." He laughed. "I mean, he takes his gavel to bed with him! He even talks to _"her"_ , like it's a real person or something. Oh, sorry. Like _she's_ a real person." The brunet shook his head. "They should just marry and get it over with." Jeff had his mouth hanging open, brows furrowed in disbelief. They all knew that Wes loved to gavel the hell out each Warbler meeting, but _wow_. That was a bit too much love for his taste.

"Anything else you wanna tell me about your time with Wesley?" the blond eventually asked. _Why was he so nervous? Nick had mentioned the girlfriend, but.._ His train of thought was interrupted by Nick sitting down beside him.

"No, not really. I just don't know if I can ever look him in the eyes again." He laughed again and slid back to lean against the wall. "I think I might have to ditch Warbler practice for a while.."

Jeff looked over his shoulder at his friend. "And that would not happen to have anything to do with that dance you don't want to learn, right?" he said with a wink. Nick just looked at him blankly, putting on the most innocent expression he managed without laughing. "Jeffrey, I have no idea what you are talking about," he replied in an offended tone, putting his hand over his heart. Jeff rolled his eyes and stood up, moving to his desk. "But seriously, I don't wanna learn that stupid thing," the brunet admitted smilingly.

"It's not stupid and also not that hard to learn, Nick," the blond said, searching for his French homework. Eventually, he looked at his friend again. Nick had been watching him, not sure whether Jeff was being serious or not. Much too his relief, the blond flashed him a smile. "I can teach you, my ataxic friend... As soon as I'm done with _this._ " He waved his hand over a blank sheet of paper on which his French essay wouldn't write itself. _Too bad, really._

"Fine," Nick answered, shrugging in defeat. How could he ever decline that offer? He went to unpack his bag and retreated to doing his own homework as well. Later, after quite the while at their desks, the brunet threw his pencil through the room. "Math is a bitch!" he exclaimed, leaning back in his chair, and stretched his arms. Jeff shot his an amused look. "Lunch break?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

In the dining hall, Thad was already lunching together with David and Trent when the boys arrived. Jeff got himself some sort of fish Nick couldn't identify, whereas he himself went with full-on beef and potatoes when it was his turn to pile food onto his plate. Lunch at Dalton was really not that bad, when you think about it. At least not on the weekends.

They sat down next to each other at the table that was occupied by their fellow Warblers. Silently, Jeff grabbed the salt and handed it over to his best friend, who in return gave him a lemon wedge for his fish that, of course, the blond had forgotten to bring. Nick smiled to himself, unaware that his every move was being watched narrowly. Thad was still talking, but David and Trent had checked out of that conversation a while ago. They shared a few knowing looks, amused by Nick and Jeff's married couple routine.

"David? David!" Thad had realized that he was being ignored here. He followed the other boy's gaze and rolled his eyes at the sight of Captain Obvious and Captain Oblivious.

Sensing the stares directed at him, Nick looked up from his meal, immediately regretting it. "What?" he half-snapped.

Thad turned around again, trying to restart the previous conversation. "As I was saying, we should let the others vote during next Warbler practice. Where is Wes?" Nick grunted at the mention of that name. To him, the third of the council members could hang, really From the side, Jeff glanced at him in amusement. _Well, that will definitely haunt him for a while.._

While Nick was preoccupied, the blond managed to snatch a few roast potatoes from his plate. But naturally, Nick noticed and nudged his friend with his elbow. "Hey, stick to your own load of health over there!"

"Can't help it. Too delicious.." With that, Jeff winked and stole another chip.

Not wanting to cat fight in front of their friends, Nick sighed and simply moved one seat away from his best friend, sticking out his tongue. _Very mature, you idiot.. Well, at least it's not a food fight.._ He was getting off track. _We hadn't had one of those for months.,_ Nick was actually glad about that. He hated it when he had to wash mayonnaise out of his hair.

It was nothing unusual for them to start a fight over a fry or something equally trivial. Nick and Jeff were always kidding around, stealing each other's stuff or even scuffling from time to time. Never in bad spirit, though. The brunet blushed at the thought of him and Jeff being that close together.. How close they'd been over the years, sometimes even in the pool, half-naked and all.. Also, Jeff had straddled the brunet more than once in their time as roommates while they were fighting for the remote control or something.. _That's awkward, in retrospect.._

"Nick?"

Trent's whisper brought the brunet back to reality. He was the closest to Nick at the table now. "Huh?" he replied, eyes slowly wandering to his fellow Warbler.

"You, err, were kind of _staring_..," Trent said in a very low voice. "At.." He nodded with his head at Jeff, who was eating his fish again and animatedly talking to David about.. Nick listened for a couple of seconds.. the dance, of course. He twisted his mouth.

"Thanks, Trent," he mumbled in a sarcastic tone. "I was just thinking."

"I could see that," the other hissed. "You were practically drooling over _you know whose_ body.. And yes, your eyes were not on his face, so don't deny it, Nick!" The brunet's jaw had dropped. _Was he that obvious?_

"Keep it down, will ya? The others will hear you..," he said, his eyes pleading, but he had already lost.

"Who will hear what?" And naturally, it was Jeff who had overheard that part and was now leaning over the seat between himself and his friend. _Gre-e-eat._ "Nothing," Nick said and stood up. "I'm done," he stated and walked away from the table. Jeff looked after him questioningly and then at Trent who just shrugged and continued with his own lunch.

The blond got up as well and went after his best friend, waving his goodbyes’ at the other Warblers. At their door, he finally caught up with Nick who was having problems with his key. "What was that about?" The brunet didn't answer, but in a frustrated manner shook the door knob with too much force. "Here, let me," Jeff said lowly and gently pushed his hands away to open the door himself.

"Ugh, just Trent being Trent, that's all. Don't worry about it."

Jeff looked at his friend blankly. Usually, they shared everything. Well, he didn't share his crazy future visions with Nick, but that was a special case scenario. He decided to leave it at this, though, and, once inside, pulled off his Dalton pullover being way too hot from the running earlier. "Wanna.. blow off some steam?" he asked with a smirk and wiggled his hips.

For a second, Nick's mind went into a complete different direction from what his friend was suggesting. All he could think about was two hot bodies moving together, pressed against each other, sweating and panting. Well, maybe that was not _that_ far from what Jeff had in mind, namely to practice dancing. Nick laughed anxiously, feeling that his pants were tightening a bit, and quickly sat down at his desk.

"You know what they say.. Gotta wait a couple of hours after you eat before you can do sports and that kind of stuff," Nick argued, avoiding the blond's eyes. Jeff simply shrugged. "Beats me. I need to finish this French thing anyway." He lay down on his bed with his notes on his lap and soon started to write again. Every now and then, Nick glanced over and watched strains of blond hair fall into Jeff's face, his pen on the paper, in his mouth, his chest moving up and down and up and... _Man, Trent's right. I'm staring way too much. That's.. probably unhealthy._

The brunet turned away completely and focused so hard on the rest of his math homework that he missed when Jeff eventually stood up and put his things aside. The blond moved slowly around their room, gathering a bright red t-shirt and a pair of ill-fitted gray sweatpants. Once in their bathroom, he changed and briefly stopped in front of the mirror to examine his reflection. He brushed his bangs to the side and put on his glasses. _What a dork_ , he thought to himself. Not that Nick would notice him anyway. Not that Jeff cared if he did.

_Right._

The blond Warbler was still confused about his feelings for his best friend. Why did he feel different about him all of a sudden? It was so annoying and inappropriate that he again decided to shove them away and repress them in the back of his mind.. to sort themselves out on their own. _No feelings, no problem._ But, oh, was he wrong. So wrong..

As he stepped through the bathroom door, Nick was still at his desk, his head resting on his calculator.

"Jeffie, I'm bored."

"Can I bring you to get out of your clothes?" the blond asked and put a hand on Nick's shoulder. _Oops, bad phrasing. Freudian thingy again?_ "Come on, get your sports stuff, Nicky. Some diversion will be good for you." _Smooth save, Jeff. Smooth..._

Nick grunted into the wooden table top, but got up anyway. He scuffled across the room towards his closet, fishing out a navy t-shirt and black shorts. He didn't bother to go to the bathroom, but undid his shirt right there. Jeff was standing there, paralyzed with fear as he let his eyes wander across Nick's muscular back. _No, no, no, no, no. Look away. Look. Away._ Needless to say, he didn't. _Don't think of Nick that way, don't. Just don't. Jeff, get it together, ma-... Ohmygod, how can a back be this_ hot?

_Shut it!_

And then, the brunet's bare skin was covered again. Jeff let out a sigh of relief, although he nearly choked on it when Nick dropped his pants and put the shorts on. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut and turned away slightly. _There go all my resolutions into nothingness._

Nick clapped his hands once, rubbing them together. "Okay, let's go! I'm ready. Got the music?" The blond opened his eyes again to see his best friend standing a lot closer than before. "Jeff?"

"Yeah, sure," he grinned as he snatched his iPod from his desk and put it into their speaker system. They moved everything as far out of their way as possible, creating their own little dancing space. Jeff started stretching while the brunet boy simply watched. He was not much of an athlete anyhow, so why pretend? Jeff held his hands high above his head, stretching his back apparently, and looked at the ceiling. His shirt was lifted and revealed his well-defined abs to a prying Nick. _Delici- oh, come on! Seriously?_ The brunet forced himself to divert his mind and reluctantly started stretching himself.

Jeff had been right. The steps weren't that difficult after all, although Nick knew, of course, why he hadn't been able to learn them in the first place. _Stupid hormones._ Feeling super off-key dancing next to his talented friend, Nick figured he might as well watch Jeff for one repetition of the song and bask in the blond's beauty.

"Okay," Jeff uttered breathlessly after his solo round, but with a big smile on his face, "Now you. Alone." Nick sighed. He was finished, but the blond wouldn't let that pass. He heaved himself from his bed and as the song started again he began to dance on his own. At first, he had his eyes on his feet, then on his best friend, but by the end, he looked nowhere at all. He tripped only once and was pretty damn proud of himself before he fell back into his chair.

"Wow, I'm impressed. And that took only.. one and a half hours for you to learn. I'm pumped about this!" Jeff seemed to be utterly excited and way _too pumped_ for Nick's taste. He just wanted to take a shower and go to bed even though it was only, like, four or so in the afternoon.

"Yeah, great. I'll go showerenbed," he babbled as he made his way to the bathroom, tiredly waving his hands about.

The blond took off his glasses, smiling at his adorable tired friend. He grabbed a spare towel from his closet and wiped some sweat off of his forehead. _Gross._

Not long after, Nick stepped out of the shower, feeling much better. He looked at his clothes. They were all sweaty and disgusting, but he had forgotten to bring a new set to the bathroom. So he put his towel on and warily got back into their room again.

The door creaked and when he looked up, there was Nick, pretty much naked except for a loose sitting towel around the hips. Jeff suppressed a gasp. The wet dark hair sprawled across Nick's forehead, dripping water down his bare neck, shoulders, chest... The blond's eyes were following one single drop that made its way from the brunet's collarbone down to his toned stomach, eventually vanishing into the towel. But not before freaking him out as he caught himself staring at Nick's perfect V-shaped pelvis that led to... _Gosh. This is getting ridiculous._ He looked again, but the brunet was facing his closet now, getting a change of clothes.

"Can I go?" Jeff asked, finally pressing the off switch on his hormones as well as his iPod speakers.

"Sure."

The blond was not too drained to forget spare clothes on his way to the shower and Jeff was happy when he got to lean against the bathroom door. He needed some alone time to think about what was happening. To him. _So, he thought that Nick was hot. Whatever.. That happens, right?_ Jeff got into the shower and under the warm water. He thought again. _Probably not that often.. So maybe, it's a phase. A my-best-friend-is-hot-phase? That's just awkward._

He turned his head up into the stream, letting the water wash over his face thoroughly. _Okay, it's stupid to argue with yourself, Jeff. Be honest!_

_Are you..?_

_And, more importantly, do you..?_


	4. Exposed

There was a knock on the door.

 

Nick had changed into black sweatpants and a white V-neck, ready to pass out on the floor, but he went for the door anyway. Outside and giggling stupidly, there were Kurt and Blaine who abruptly stiffened at the sight of their fellow Warbler in the doorway.

"Oh, hey you," Nick greeted them halfheartedly, glancing over his shoulder into his dorm. Jeff was still in the bathroom, but the brunet feared he might come out any minute and he didn't want to put his friend on the spot. That is, since Jeff never ran around half-naked, not even during the summer -only when they went swimming- although he could totally pull it off. The blond had a great body from all the dancing, athletic but thin at the same time.. Nick was getting off topic.. again.

"Hey Nickster," Blaine greeted him back. "We were wondering if you.." He tried to look behind Nick. "Is _he_ here?" he added in a low voice. _Oh, great. Kurt, you blabber mouth!_

"Yes, he is, in fact." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Shower."

"Great," Kurt said with a grin and dragged Nick by his arm out of the room and into the hallway.

Jeff was oblivious to all of this. He had his own problems to solve. As he was washing his hair, he pondered over the fact that he liked Nick's body, obviously, and he liked Nick. But did he _like him-_ like him? _Well, don't those usually go together?_ He honestly didn't know. He never really liked someone before, although he dated that one girl in 9th grade for a couple of months. But since that had ended in a total disaster, he'd rather not think about that ever again. Although she'd had a great pair of... eyes.

_Okay, back on track. Maybe I'm.. bi-curious?_

To test his idea, the blond tried to think of other boys or men he might like. In Dalton he'd met no one so far that he was really interested in, so he moved on to people beyond his reach. Jeff always loved X-Men and _Hugh Jackman was definitely hot.._ He kept on thinking. _Robert Downey Jr. is hot.. Do I have a thing for older men?_ He twisted his mouth under the stream of water. That's _creepy.. Well, Nick is older than me. And dark haired and strong like these two. Maybe I'm Nick-curious._

_Or I just_ like _him._ He sighed loudly. _Nick is indeed strong and hot and.. muscular._ Jeff subconsciously licked his lips and stiffened as he felt his wandering mind taking effect on his body. He looked down. _Uh-uh._ The blond quickly turned the water to freezing and, standing panting under the icy stream, waited for his hormones to shut it.

He'd been there for so long that his skin was starting to wrinkle noticeably. Jeff browsed the rest of the shampoo off his head and finally stepped out of the shower. He decided to try things out to, like, _really_ test himself. _Next time you see him, just listen to your heart and.. Gosh, you're so cheesy._

Anyways, as he went back into their dorm, Nick wasn't actually there and all he could hear was an argument out in the hallway. Jeff pressed his ear against the door and made out muffled bits of a heated conversation.

"I simply can't believe that you told him." That was Nick and the blond could feel a smile lighting up his face.. Although his friend sounded pissed. _Why so upset, Nicky?_ Jeff had his hand already on the door knob, but then Blaine answered.

"Come on, Nick, what was there to tell, really? Everybody knows. Well, everybody except you, I suppose. And Jeff, for that matter."

"Keep it down, Anderson! These walls are thin as paper and you know that."

"You are ridiculous, Nick. Don't be stupid!" That was Kurt. What was going on here?

"Oh, stop it, Kurt! I trusted you when I told you about, you know, my feelings." Jeff pressed his ear even harder against the wooden surface, hardly able to hear what his best friend was mumbling. And there was Blaine again. "I'm serious. _Everybody_. We're just trying to help here."

"Maybe I don't want your help."

"And maybe you're an idiot," Kurt snapped. He continued in a softer tone, though. "So, you're saying the whole thing was pointless?" He sounded almost sad and the blond started to feel bad for eavesdropping, but this was just getting real interesting. What were they talking about, goddammit?

Nick sighed. "No, it wasn't."

"You mean, you finally realized that you.."

" _I mean_ that I know now that you are an asshole," the brunet said, but Jeff could hear that he was laughing. Nick wasn't able to be angry with his friends for too long. He was great like that.

"And yes, I think I'm in love with him, if that's what you're getting at." What the blond couldn't see, obviously, was Kurt's pressing gaze, forcing Nick to clarify. For his own good, of course. "Okay, okay, Kurt. In love with Jeff, alright? He's my life! You happy now?" he rattled off in defeat. "Can we leave it at that? ...Don't you dare grin!"

The blond didn't really pay attention anymore as he sank to the ground, eyes wide in shock. "Oh my.." he whispered, immediately slapping his hands over his mouth. He scrambled to his feet and rushed back into the bathroom.

When Nick came back inside, his best friend was still nowhere to be seen. _Thank God._ He sat down on his bed and began looking for a movie from within their DVD collection for them to watch later. He heard water running in the sink, so he knew that Jeff would be out any minute now.

The blond on the other side of the door was sitting on the edge of their tub. He had turned to faucet on to cover up his gasps. And he was gasping, all right, rewinding the conversation in his mind over and over again. _Ohmygod, ohmygod, "He's my life."_ Did he really say that? Jeff was sure. Yes, definitely. But did he really? _Oh my, what now?_

Jeff held his hands to the sides of his face, running them through his damp hair every now and then. He got up and looked at himself in the mirror. _Bird's nest._ The blond chuckled, and then, all of a sudden, he couldn't stop anymore, even if he wanted to. He was thoroughly giggling and laughing, once more clasping his hands over his mouth as he tried to mute himself. But it was no use.

_Nick's in love with me._ He laughed some more, soon choking on sobs that by and by were making themselves felt and clogging his throat. Jeff was crying and laughing at the same time, feeling like a madman with his hands pressed onto his lips. The blond was so _happy_ , it was unbelievable.

_Well, that clarifies a lot._

"Nick," he whispered in a very low voice at his own reflection, still giggling with tears streaming down his face. "I think... I love you too."

He left the bathroom soon after. He had splashed some water in his face to make its puffiness not as obvious. Nick was sitting on his bed. "What took you so long?" he said with a smirk, freezing at the sight of Jeff's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," the blond chuckled heavily, tears yet again filling his eyes. He also began hiccupping. _Wow, very attractive, Jeff._ "Really," he said in between hiccups. "It's nothing."

Nick was not convinced, but he let the blond be. At the given opportunity, Jeff turned around on his heel and threw his dirty clothes in their laundry hamper to have at least _something_ to do. This was followed with him disappearing behind his closet door where the tall boy rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe the tears and the smile off his face.

"I'll take a nap," the brunet announced from the other side of the room.

"Do that, I'll go out for a while. Night, Nicky," and with that Jeff hurried out of the room. _Wow, that was fast. And weird._ Nick turned around and lay on his side. Before he was able to ponder over his friend's strange behavior, he had already dozed off.

Jeff, on the other hand, was on a mission. But first, the garden - he needed air, space, anything, everything. He'd grabbed a water bottle on his way out and was now walking between trees, drinking greedily. _Drinking drinking drinking breathing breathing drinking drinking breathing drinking breathing.. Empty._

Out of something else to concentrate on, Jeff sat down on a bench and tried to calm himself some more. _For future reference, keep your overreactions on the inside when you're around Nick. Otherwise, weird!_ He laughed at his own stupidity. _You're such a girl,_ he thought and took a few deep breaths. Those had been some damn freaking news that he got shoved down his throat today. Not that he minded. On the contrary, as he knew now.. " _Everybody knows..except you..and Jeff." Who_ everybody? The Warblers? How could they possibly imagine or assume something like that.. _And be right?_ What else was going on when they weren't around?

Questions upon questions.

The only one that mattered right now had not yet been asked, though.

But Jeff was going to change that tonight.


	5. Developing

"Is it true?" Jeff burst into the Warbler common room, finding just who he was looking for on one of the sofas chatting with Thad and David.

"Wha-?" Thad was the first to react, even if rather inarticulate, his eyes wandering between a stunned David and a wild looking Jeff. The blond's hair was wet and tousled and he was wearing what seemed to be his dark plaid pajama pants.

Kurt was up in a split second. "Jeff!..Let's talk outside, shall we?" He grabbed Jeff by his t-shirt, but the tall boy simply shrugged his hand off. Blaine's brows were furrowed in confusion, following the two with his eyes as they left the room. David began to speak first. "What the hell was that about?"

"I don't know, man. Kurt and I were just at their dorm and everything _appeared_ to be normal.." Blaine was trailing off when he thought about the conversation with Nick not so long ago. _Oh.. Oh!_

"Well, gotta go," he said quickly before he jumped to his feet. He rushed outside, only to find his boyfriend hugging Jeff tightly at the end of the hallway. And to top it all, Blaine heard a soft crying sound coming from the blond Warbler. _That doesn't look too promising._

A few minutes earlier, Jeff pretty much started yelling at Kurt as soon as they were walking down the hallway. "Okay, we are outside. Now, would you please tell me, Kurt, if it's true?" Jeff sounded pissed and, hell, he was by now. He had his hands on his hips, leaning tall over the smaller boy.

"What do you mean actu-," Kurt began.

"Oh, stop it, Kurt. I heard you all talking. And I want the truth!"

Kurt waited with his response, stunned by the blond's anger and seriousness. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" he finally said and with that took Jeff completely aback. _Why indeed?_ Hurt, the blond dropped his gaze to the ground and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I- I can't. What if he didn't mean it? I can't- I couldn't.."

Kurt lifted one hand to Jeff's upper arm and started stroking it soothingly, a smile on his lips. "Do you.. want him to mean it?" he asked after a while. The blond looked up and into Kurt's eyes instantly, tears filling his own. _Why can't I stop crying?_ He smiled, trying not to freak his friend out. "I do," he answered as the first tear rolled down his cheek. "I really, really do.."

"Then, Warbler Jeff, I am happy to assure you that he does.." _Uh-uh._ Kurt mentally slapped himself. He wasn't allowed to tell. _Oh man, Nick's gonna be pissed._ "But psst!" he added quickly as the blond's last barriers collapsed and he fell into Kurt's arms, sobbing and chuckling at his shoulder. "It's okay, it's okay.."

"Is everything alright here?" a voice from behind asked warily. Blaine had come closer with a concerned expression on his face.

"Yes," Jeff chuckled, rubbing tears off his cheeks. "Great, actually." He leaned out of his embrace with Kurt and against the nearest wall. "It's just.. it's a lot to handle. I didn't even know.. until.." He laughed again. "I'm way too emotional, sorry. Didn't want to weird you out or anything.."

"No, no, no, 's alright. We're really happy for you," Blaine interrupted his rambling and took his boyfriend's hand. Kurt flashed him a loving smile, giving Jeff some time to recover before he interjected. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know. Can I ask you something?" the blond replied. Not hearing any objections, he continued. "Did you really _all_ know about this.. whatever _this_ is?"

"Well, Nick was kind of obvious about it over the last few weeks, you know, " Blaine said with a grin. He had finally understood that this was actually going well. "We had our assumptions.. but we weren't so sure about you, though."

Jeff looked at them blankly. Nick had been _obvious_?

_When?_

The blond rested his head against the wall and let out a sigh. "Could you keep this to yourselves until I figure things out with.. him?"

"Sure thing, but I don't know about the others. Your entrance just now was pretty melodramatic," Kurt stated worriedly.

"I guess I'll just take my chances and make it quick, then."

Meanwhile in the common room, Thad and David were damn close to solving this mystery. Well, it took no Sherlock Holmes to figure it out, what else could Jeff have been talking about besides the new Warbler set-up? It was so obvious.

"He must have listened in on us over the last week.. that's how he knows. It _must_ be!" David whispered, being completely beside himself. The council had planned this surprise for the Dalton Glee club for so long now and Jeff was one of the main winners in the new line-up. No wonder he was so excited.

"We need to talk to him! He can't ruin it for the others.." Thad said. He was worked up as well. They should have been more careful.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Trent, from the other side of the room, the only other Warbler in the room actually, said after a while of listening to this nonsense. "This is not about the stupid set-up, dear gentlemen-morons. You saw him! Think hard, oh, wise council, what could have upset him this much? What does usually?" Trent snorted sarcastically, feeling like one of those hosts for little kid's TV shows. _Where is the pink elephant? That was my favorite part too._

"Upset Jeff? Nothing really," Thad responded uncertainly. "Choreographies? I'll stick to the line-up thing." But David knew what Trent was getting at. "Do you think it's...Nick?"

"Congratulations, you found the elephant! I mean, yes, totally." Trent was getting way too excited about this. "Just think about it! _Kurt_ went to talk to him. That tells us more than enough," he concluded with a triumphant smile.

"Warbler Emergency Meeting!" David almost shouted, jumping to his feet. "Get everyone.. except _them_!"


	6. Spotlight

"What kind of emergency is this?"

"Don't tell me this is about the ties again.."

"Wes?"

The Warblers were chatting all over the place, excited and annoyed to have been summoned on a Saturday evening. A few bangs of Wes' gavel called them to order. "Warblers! We called you tonight.."

"Hey, we're not complete yet!" Beatz thought aloud. "I'm gonna get.."

"NO!" David interrupted him, supported by some more loud gaveling. "No. There is a reason why there are two seats empty today. Everyone, put your phones away, this is a secret emergency meeting." David had this very serious expression that no one wanted to mess with.

"Who is missing anyway?" Jesse asked, turning repeatedly in his chair and scanning the room.

"Point of order!" Wes exclaimed, quieting the brunet with two further bangs of his gavel. _Man, he could be a real pain in the.._ "Gentlemen, it seems like it is finally happening." His eyes wandered to a nervous looking Kurt at the other end of the room. He, of course, knew _who_ was missing here. "Warbler Kurt, would you please enlighten us about the current Nick-Jeff situation!"

Every head in the room turned in perfect synch towards the chestnut haired boy, gasps and whispers filling the silence, while Kurt was sinking deeper and deeper into the sofa cushions. _Dammit._

"Well, er, I am not allowed.. to talk about it.." he began, only to be attacked instantly with several demanding voices from almost all of his fellow students. The gavel shut them up again.

"You mock us, sir!" Thad burst out, only to be followed by an upset Trent. "Honestly, we've been waiting for this for months. No, years!" he said, exaggerating per usual. "Don't you dare ruin this for us, Kurt!"

"Warbler Trent has a valid point. They might not have known so themselves, but Warbler Jeff and Nick are kind of meant for each other. And we are sick of the tension," David concluded Trent's arguments. In the back Blaine rolled his eyes. That's exactly what they'd told him about his relationship with Kurt shortly after they'd gotten together. There was always some _unsolved tension_ around. The way he saw it, the Warblers simply got bored pretty easily. To his surprise, his boyfriend actually spoke up, interrupting his train of thought.

"Okay, okay.. Yes, there is something going on. They are talking right now as far as I know. They.. realized their feelings.. BUT," Kurt tried to shout over the upcoming murmurs. "But, I was clearly instructed _not_ to disturb."

Wes gaveled the other Warblers to silence. "Thank you, Kurt." He looked into hopeful eyes, flashing the others a reassuring smile. "As head of this council, however, I command otherwise. We've already talked about this last year. The Warblers will serenade the new found lovebirds and show our support so that this can finally be over." Under a lot of cheering and applauding, Kurt fell back into the sofa, eyes wide in shock at how he and Jeff's wishes were being overlooked here. Blaine petted his arm soothingly, although his eyes radiated his excitement bright and clear. _This was going to be awesome!_

"We'll give them another hour and then: Impromptu Performance, everyone! End of discussion." Three bangs ended the emergency meeting, but Kurt didn't move. He couldn't, but it was hopeless anyway. As he reached for his phone, David stood already in front of him, reaching out. "Kurt, please." He sighed and handed it over to the council member. _What a bunch of balls.._

When the other Warblers had been called to the meeting, Jeff was already back in his dorm room and creepily watching Nick during his nap. Well, he thought of himself as a creeper, staring at his best friend like that. But the brunet was just too damn cute so that Jeff couldn't bring himself to stop staring or even wake him up for the talk he had planned. After a while he actually forgot all about the plan, being rather hypnotized by Nick's chest raising and lowering itself in a steady rhythm.

The blond managed to tear his eyes off of the mesmerizing sight and proceeded to not acknowledge Nick at all. _Better wait till he gets up on his own.._ He sat cross-legged on his mattress for almost an hour and flipped through some old comic books before Nick raised from the dead. His dark hair was a mess, hanging into his face as well as sticking out and up into the air. He shifted his weight and propped himself up on his left elbow, right hand rubbing his foggy eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine," Jeff greeted his friend with a grin, amused by the brunet's sleepy state. Nick's face looked crumpled and he squinted against the light from Jeff's reading lamp, letting out a few grunting sounds that the blond roughly translated to either _Hello_ or _Shut up_.

Dazed with sleep, the brunet sat up slowly and eventually wobbled towards the bathroom door, missing it by a meter or so. Jeff was doing his best not to laugh out loud, falling face first into his pillow to mute his chuckles.

"I can hear you," the brunet's voice droned from the other room. "'S not funny.. Ow!" The sound of Nick hitting his head at the bathroom shelf was music to Jeff's ears. Sweet painful music of post-sleep reliability.. only to be topped by the brunet's vile cursing. _Isn't he just the most adorable little grump?_

Jeff smiled into his pillow. Nick really was adorable.

That's when he heard it. _It._ The unmistakable and distinct torture of the perfect harmony that was the strike up to the Warbler's signature matchmaking serenade. _Well, shit._

Nick caught it too. He stuck his head through the door, facing the wall that separated their dorm from the hallway. "What is going on? Why are they..?" Jeff didn't respond. The blond was in shock and frozen in fear. _Oh please, please, not yet. Please, I hadn't had the chance.._

"Jeff?" Nick had turned his head to look at his friend. The blond was mumbling something indistinguishable into the covers. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the Mraz song? Why..?"

"I didn't tell them to do that!" Jeff almost shouted against his pillow as he lifted his head slightly. He got up and went for the door. Nick followed his every step with his eyes before he decided to join him in the door frame.

There they were, his fellow Warblers and so-called friends. In their hallway. _How could they do this to him?_ Jeff had torn the door open and at seeing them in full "I'm yours" line-up had face palmed himself. He managed to locate Kurt on the side, who, with an apologetic look on his face, mouthed a "Sorry" his way. Standing next to his best friend, Nick was rooted to the spot and busy shooting Kurt his own personal death glares, not aware that Jeff was doing the same.

"GO AWAY!" the blond finally yelled at the Warblers and, after dragging Nick back inside by his shirt, slammed the door shut behind them. Leaning against the wooden surface, Jeff started to shake his head in disbelief, not taking his eyes off the ground. "I can't believe this.."

"I take it they haven't talked yet," Blaine said to the others out in the hallway. They were all terrified by mad Jeff, wide-eyed staring at the door where he had basically just told them to fuck off. How.. _rude._

Kurt rolled his eyes. _Told you so._ "Let's go, guys." Wes called over the muddled voices, sensing that there was nothing to be done. "Performance canceled and postponed!" Trent was raising a hue and cry at this whereas Kurt was happy for his friends, they needed time. He saw from the corner of his eye how the head council member was trying hard to suppress his usual gavel hand movement for ending Warbler meetings. _Freak._

"I think they're gone," Nick said after a while, sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. "Well, that was.."

"Embarrassing? Unnecessary? A dick move?" Jeff was angry, legitimately angry. How could they put him on the spot like that?

"I actually wanted to go with 'uncalled for'." _And sweet._ But he couldn't tell Jeff that. "Wait, you thought it was.. embarrassing? Why?" He lifted his head, sadness crossing his eyes. The blond didn't like him that way after all. What other reason was there for him to be embarrassed by this? Although they usually didn't care if someone called them out on their married couple like behavior.

Or.. does he _know_? _God dammit, Kurt!_

"I- I don't know," the blond uttered. He moved over to Nick's bed and sat down beside his best friend. "I didn't tell them to do this," he repeated softly, more to himself than to anyone else really.

"Me neither, but you know how they are," the brunet replied, petting Jeff's hand. "Sometimes they are just.. and Kurt.."

"Yes, Kurt!" Jeff agreed quickly, turning his head to face Nick, whose eyes were frantically wandering around the room as he mentally face palmed himself. Jeff had talked to Kurt? _Yep, I'm screwed._ He decided to drop his gaze to their hands, not daring to look his best friend in the eyes. With an unreadable expression, Jeff turned his hand and intertwined their fingers.

_Here goes nothing.._


	7. Close Up

Jeff had laced their fingers together on top of his leg. Maybe not the best spot, but whatever.. No time to change that now. Nick just stared at them, wondering how his fitted so perfectly into his best friend's hand. _Best friend._ If Jeff knew, were they still best friends?

"Nick," the blond began, squeezing the brunet's hand a little tighter. "I wanted to talk to you about something." To Nick's surprise, he nearly spat the last part. "Before this... disruption." The brunet flinched at Jeff's apparent anger.

"I actually like our version of "I'm yours". But I know what you mean," he mumbled, subconsciously facing away from his friend.

"Nick, look at me. Nicky." Jeff's voice was softer now, nervous even, if Nick was reading it right. He turned his head, eyes meeting those beautiful brown ones of his friend. "Thank you," the blond said finally, smiling his gorgeous smile.

Nick didn't feel reassured at all, though. _Here it comes. Rejection._

"Listen, Nick, I- I overheard you talking to Kurt and Blaine today." Nick let go of his hand at once, although he remained stock still otherwise. Jeff wouldn't have let him leave anyway. The blond reached for him, but Nick stopped his attempt. "Don't.. Just don't." He had dropped his gaze again, feeling sick all of a sudden. His stomach churched and he felt this pressure in his throat like he was about to throw up.

Jeff felt bad, this wasn't going right. Instead, Nick wouldn't look at him or even listen to him, apparently, and Jeff was able to see the blood draining from his friend's face. He'd thought about what to say and what to do down in the garden, but all his plans had been wiped from his brain. _Just improvise, Jeff. You're usually pretty good at that.. Yes, when it comes to dancing, idiot!_

Soliloquizing: Not very helpful.

He took Nick's hand once more and traced little circles onto the brunet's palm with his thumb. He could see that Nick was staring at what he was doing while he himself tried not to panic. _Just focus.. At least he didn't pull away this time._

He gathered all his courage and brought his unoccupied hand up to Nick's face, using his index finger to lift the brunet's chin. Nick was about to turn his head away, hurt and sadness showing in his eyes, when Jeff tightened his grip on him. He moved his hand to cup Nick's face softly as soon as the other boy didn't struggle anymore and leaned in. The brunet sat there in shock. _What the..? Will he..?_

The blond rested his forehead against Nick's, his heart racing in his chest.

"Just listen to me, would you?"

Nick didn't respond. He was focusing on the blond's breath on his face, their intertwined fingers, their being so close to each other. It wasn't enough, though, he could feel it deep down inside of himself. Nick wanted Jeff to be even closer, wanted to lean in, close the distance, but instead he just waited for his best friend to start talking again.

"I heard you and, frankly, I was shocked, Nicky." Jeff sat back, letting his hand fall into his lap. "I couldn't believe it. I..," the blond nearly choked on what he was about to admit.

Nick sat there absolutely horrified as he spotted tears filling his best friend's eyes. But there was something else.. A smile. _A smile?_ The brunet reached up when the first drop fell down Jeff's face and gently wiped it away.

This little gesture gave the blond the courage to finish his sentence. "..I was so happy," he concluded, smiling sheepishly down at the mattress.

Nick was baffled. "Happy?" This couldn't be true. "What do you think you heard me say?" He immediately regretted asking this when he saw the puzzled and hurt expression on his friend's face. Much to his surprise, Jeff answered him right away and honestly.

"That you were in love.. with me. That I was your life. Was that wrong?"

"No, no, no." The brunet took a deep breath. "That's exactly what I said." His eyes flickered across the room as he mused over the implications of this. "You were.. actually happy?" he eventually asked, doubt ringing in his voice.

"Can't you see that I'm happy?" Jeff asked back, flashing Nick a grin.

"I can see that you're crying, Jeff. You obviously can't handle.." He was cut off by a hand once again holding his cheek. Jeff was leaning in again.

"Nicky, please.. Shut up."

And he did as the blond's lips brushed his own softly, giving him space to withdraw, but Nick wanted all but that. Instead, he let go of Jeff's hand and wrapped his arms around the blond's neck, pressing their lips together more forcefully. He closed his eyes, enjoying how all the tension was drained from his body when he felt Jeff kissing him back just as hard. The blond deepened the kiss, resting his hands on Nick's waist and pulling him closer.

A little lightheaded, Nick broke away and sat back out of their embrace. Jeff seemed to be panting, but what caught his eye was this look on the blond's face that had this deer in headlights quality- eyes wide, lips slightly parted, red and full from the kiss. Nick bit his lower lip. If this wasn't the hottest thing he'd ever seen...

"Sorry."

"What are you sorry for? _I_ jumped _you_.. sort of," Jeff breathed with a wink, trying hard to regain his composure. He almost fell back into the mattress when the brunet quickly came forward and stole a short but deep kiss from his lips. "Well, for that then," Nick said sheepishly when he sat back cross-legged.

"Don't be," Jeff uttered breathlessly. "I'm not." He was blushing heavily, failing at hiding it beneath his light-haired bangs. Although, when he looked over to Nick who was holding his hand again, he could see that the brunet was sporting the same red tint on his cheeks as Jeff.

He flashed him a smile. "Say it!"

Nick looked at him blankly. Usually he knew what his best friend was up to or what he was getting at, but for obvious reasons his brain wasn't working that well right now. "Say it, Nick," Jeff repeated insistently and then it dawned upon him.

"You are my life, Jeffie, and I'm in love with you."

The blond beamed and quickly blinked back the blur of tears filling his eyes. "Guess what, Nicky. As chance would have it, I'm in love with you too." Now it was Nick's turn to grin. _Wow!_

He pushed himself up towards the head of his bed and motioned Jeff to follow him.

"Er, Nick, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry," the brunet answered laughingly. "It's not what you think. Let's watch a movie or something. I'm kind of tired."

"Again?" Jeff shook his head, but another thought crossed his mind. "Don't you wanna talk about _this_? I think we should talk about this," he stated, but he was clearly on his move towards Nick. He rested his back against the head board beside his best friend. There they were, shoulder to shoulder and uncertain how to proceed.

"So... talk then," Nick said after a while, nudging his friend's arm from the side.

"Can I ask you something?" The brunet waved his hands in front of Jeff, signaling to continue. "Why me?"

"Are you kidding me? You are awesome!" Nick blurted out. "You're my best friend and, like, this great dancer.. you're funny and lovely and wonderful and so _Oh my God_ , so _hot-_.." _Uh-uh._ Nick fell silent. _Did I just say that out loud?_

"You think I'm hot?" _Yep, I totally did. No way in denying it either._

"Well, yes," he answered shyly.

"Which part do you like best?" _Oh great,_ Jeff was being cute with him. But Nick knew how to get the smirking blond off his high horse. He leaned over and ran his hand over Jeff's thigh up to his stomach, watching his face as the grin vanished and his mouth fell open in shock. With his very own smirk playing on his lips, Nick quickly lifted the blond's shirt and brushed his fingertips over the delicious skin underneath. Initially, he'd just wanted to stun his friend, but he really liked the feeling of this and the look on Jeff's face. Especially his darkening eyes.. Soon Nick found himself leaning in, but he didn't go for those beautiful lips.. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and kissed Jeff's jaw, then his neck and the sensitive skin behind his ear.

"Oh god, Nick..."

This was the brunet's sign to withdraw from his lingering kissing and to look up into Jeff's face. The blond had his eyes closed, lips still parted. Nick flashes him a grin. "You were saying?"

"God, you're such a tease," Jeff mumbled, casting up his eyes reluctantly, and attached himself to Nick's lips.


	8. Photograph

_Wow, just wow.._

They'd decided to watch that movie after all. There was nothing else to do except make out or talk and they'd done both excessively. So the boys just enjoyed sitting together on Nick's bed, cuddled up to each other while they were watching X2. Nick felt the light sting of jealousy at the way Jeff was obviously reacting to Hugh Jackman in that water tank. Naked Hugh Jackman, that was.

He snuggled closer to the blond's side, wrapping his arm possessively around his waist, and pecked his chest.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing," the brunet replied maybe a tad too fast. _Way to be annoying on your first day together, Nick._ He tried to cover it up with the very first thing that came to mind.

"Why..," he sat up a bit so he wasn't talking into Jeff's t-shirt. "Why were you so nervous about our photo this week?" He'd wanted to ask that since that very day. Jeff was usually not an anxious person, except when it came to auditioning, so it'd bothered the hell out of Nick.

"I can't tell you. It's way too embarrassing."

"Oh, come on, Jeffie. Pleeeease.." Nick tilted his head up and gave the blond his best puppy dog eyes. Not that he knew whether it would have any effect at all. But apparently, it did work pretty well, much to his surprise. Jeff was melting under his gaze.

"Fine!" He threw his hands in the air in defeat. "I'll tell you, but it's stupid." He crossed his arms over his chest, pushing Nick away slightly in the process.

"Okay, so I had this crazy fantasy.. about showing the picture to, like, my children and grandchildren and stuff. So I didn't want to mess it up. We are finally successful and we have this place of honor in the yearbook and it's a photo of, you know, _us_.."

Nick didn't get it. Everybody wanted their yearbook to be perfect and presentable for their families, didn't they? What's so crazy about that fantasy? To him, this sounded more like Jeff was rambling to beat around the bush.

"I don't follow," he merely stated, looking questioningly at the blond next to him.

Jeff was massaging the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, eyes closed and brows puckered.

"I've been having these.. visions, like future visions, of us, as in _you_ and _me_ , for a few weeks now. These children and grandchildren in my fantasy? They were ours. I know, it's super disturbing, sorry."

The brunet gave him a peck on the shoulder. "Yeah, that's pretty creepy, but also kind of cute. I'm not ready to get married just yet, Jeffie, but it's nice to know where this road is headed." He stuck his tongue out and grinned at a blushing Jeff. _He's so cute._

"Oh, shut up."

"Come here, Jeffie. Don't be mad," Nick said with a wink, bringing his hand up to turn the blond's face and primarily his sweet lips down to his. Although being reluctant at first, Jeff soon gave in to the kiss and tilted his head to match the brunet's perfectly.

When another thought crossed his mind, Nick withdrew from their kiss and propped himself against the blond's shoulder. "So," he began, "do you wanna go.. on a date? With me?" He didn't dare to look at his friend's face. Jeff, on the other hand, blushing and grinning like a dork, couldn't take his eyes off the brunet. He pulled Nick closer towards himself and pecked the dark hair that was covering his temple.

"I'd love to," he whispered into Nick's hair, who turned his head abruptly. "Really?" he asked, beaming from ear to ear, as he looked into Jeff's loving dark eyes. The blond closed the distance between them, causing Nick's eyes to widen in surprise, and answered him with another tender kiss on the lips.

When he tried to recline, Nick grabbed his neck and pulled him in again. He didn't want to end this just yet. What started innocently enough, soon turned into something more heated as Nick moved his lips passionately against the blond's, parting his slightly. He ran his tongue softly along Jeff's bottom lip, who in return opened his mouth, hereby granting Nick entrance, and kissed him back hungrily, their tongues exploring each other.

The brunet moved his hand from Jeff's neck to his hair, grabbing it lightly to pull him closer, if that was even possible. As, under the sensation of the brunet's fingers, Jeff started to moan into his mouth, Nick couldn't help but grin into the kiss, soon humming softly against the blond's lips as well.

Leaning into the brunet more fiercely, Jeff caused them to change positions, so that eventually he was lying on top of the other boy. Nick's unoccupied hand was trailing up and down Jeff's side when the blond finally broke their kiss, both of them being a little short on breath. They didn't mind, though. He continued resting his body on top of Nick and, while grinning happily, pecked his lips and jaw every now and then. Dark locks of hair were taking up half of Nick's face as he lay there watching and receiving kisses. The blond stroked his hair affectionately, brushing some of it away from his forehead. Nick had brought his hand down and was now gently moving his thumb across the other boy's flushed cheek.

"What about lunch tomorrow?" he asked after a while. Jeff leaned in for a final peck on the brunet's nose before he sat up, a wide grin on his lips and bouncing a little. "It's a date, then."

Nick propped himself up on his elbows while the blond moved off and away from the bed, absentmindedly gathering his things from the other side of their room. The movie had stopped playing a while ago, the menu music filled the silence between them. "Can I..?" he began, motioning towards the pillow and blanket in his hands. Nick had been watching him, confusion showing on his face, that was now replaced with a blush as he realized what the blond was getting at. _He wants to sleep with me. Well, not sleep-sleep, but.. spend the night, kind of.. That's so awesome._ Nick was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, sure," he finally blurted out.

The brunet got under his blanket, scooting over to the wall so that Jeff had space as well. Their beds were not really king size, for being dorm bed's and all, but it worked pretty well, actually. Even if his bed had been tiny, he wouldn't have minded sharing it as long as Jeff was by his side. Or in that case, probably on top of him. Nick liked that thought quite a bit.

Jeff lay down beside him, offering his arm like Nick had a few nights ago, before they had kissed and stuff. The brunet was blushing again. He snuggled into Jeff's side, his hand resting on the blond's chest, and whispered his goodnights. In return, Jeff kissed his head, burying his nose in soft dark locks. "You, too, Nicky."

  
  


*

  
  


The next morning flew by in a flash. It was Sunday, so the boys slept in, entangled into each other. Jeff was the first to really awaken and he took his time as well, but he was still disoriented when he eventually opened his eyes. _As usual._ This was not his bed, the wall was on the wrong side. Also, something heavy was sitting on top of him, holding him down as he tried to move. He looked down and.. _Oh._ Nick was there. Again. This was becoming quite the habit, Jeff waking up and finding the brunet by his side. But frankly, he enjoyed it very much, especially when he remembered the previous night. Drowsily, Jeff smiled and gently stroked the curly head. Nick had sort of climbed on top of him, legs intertwined with his, face down in the blond's chest. _Adorable._

He gently pushed the brunet off of himself and got up. When Nick woke up for real, the other side of his bed was empty. He looked around the room, but there was no blond in sight. "Jeffie?"

For the rest of the morning, Jeff was nowhere to be seen and Nick was starting to panic. _Is he flaking out on me?_ Trying to be optimistic, he kept hoping not and got ready nonetheless. The brunet put on a pair of dark jeans, a black V-neck and a plaid short-sleeved shirt. He was just done tying his Nikes when someone knocked on their door. He got up, checking his hair briefly in the mirror, and opened it to a sheepishly looking Jeff. The blond had his hands in the pockets of his thin gray hoodie, obviously watching something super interesting on the ground.

"Forgot your key again?" Nick suspected with a grin on his lips.

"No, I just.." The blond was finally looking at Nick. He had his glasses on and looked absolutely ravishing. "Just wanted to make this right and pick you up, like on a real date, you know." He was balancing on his heels and took a deep breath. _Hopefully he didn't see that._ Nick totally did.

Jeff reached out to his friend, offering him his hand. "You ready?" he asked. The brunet took it happily.

"Of course."

  
  


*

  
  


Jeff was driving, eyes glued to the road, while Nick was softly singing along with the radio. Again, the usual. They had decided not to eat on campus, but at a little restaurant in town that apparently shared some similarities with one Breadsticks in Lima, according to Kurt anyways. It was a really cute place, Jeff loved this chain anyway, and all sorts of people were having lunch over there. A few families with their children sat inside, as well as one elderly couple. Outside, along with the two Warblers, there was a table of girls in their early 20s maybe who were chatting over coffee.

"After you, Mr. Sterling," Nick bowed, motioning with his hand towards Jeff's chair.

"Thank you, Mr. Duval. How very kind of you," the blond answered in a fake British accent. Nick couldn't help the grin he sported from ear to ear. _A-dorable._ He waited until Jeff was seated before he sat down as well. The blond really liked this gentlemanly side of his friend. _Friend?_ Well, yeah, they were still best friends, actually. But more...

"So, where were you this morning?" Unknowingly, the brunet cut off Jeff's uncomfortable train of thought. The waitress came to take their order before the blond could answer.

"Once you're out, you sleep like a log," he chuckled. "Dead to the world... It's cute." Both of their face's flushed at Jeff's casual comment. Behind his glasses, the blond's eyes were focused on the sky as he started recollecting his morning activities, counting them with his fingers. "Well, I was in our room, mainly. I even showered, but you didn't wake. And then, yeah, then I went out to see Thad and Blaine for coffee, I tanked up and.. you know the rest."

"You picked me up," Nick stated. "You should have left me a message, though. I thought you were going to flake out on me." He actually looked hurt.

"Don't be stupid, Nicky. You know me better than that."

"Next time, at least charge your damn cellphone," Nick said with a wink. He wasn't really mad, although he couldn't deny his mini panic attack from earlier, but he also liked to see his Jeffie falter a bit from time to time.

  
  


*

  
  


Lunch was pretty awesome. It felt natural, although, in addition to being his usual self, Nick found himself flirting a lot. Even Jeff seemed different as he was poking with his fork at his pasta... The tall Warbler kept watching Nick shyly through his bangs.. dreamy even? _So cute._ Feeling flattered and hoping that he wasn't misinterpreting his friend, Nick continuously blushed under the blond's gaze.

Soon, they were on their way back to the car, holding hands along the way. The ride home was quiet, but Jeff felt happy. Pretty damn happy, to be precise. He kept glancing over at Nick who had intertwined their fingers above the center console. They reached Dalton without delay and found the parking lot rather empty. Jeff stepped out of his car, but leaned against his door, not willing to reenter the school just yet. "Nick," he began warily. How was he supposed to say this? "Are we... really dating now?" The brunet looked at him blankly, confused about where this was going. "We just were on a date, weren't we?" he asked back.

"I mean, as in _a couple that goes on dates_." Jeff had his hands in his hoodie again, avoiding Nick's gaze. "Not like a couple of people, but you know.. a couple-couple..."

"Yes, we are," Nick said matter-of-factly, interrupting the blond's rambling. "I mean, only if you want us to, of course." He tugged at one of Jeff's arms, freeing his hand out of the hoodie pocket, and the tall boy immediately flashed him a smile.

"I do, I really..," he lost his thread again. "So, you're my boyfriend? !" At this, he looked straightly into the brunet's beautiful eyes. Nick simply nodded and led the blond's hand over to his racing heart, holding it there beneath his own and squeezing it tightly.

"And I can do this whenever I want?" Jeff added with a smirk, feeling Nick's heart through the fabric of his shirt as he leaned in to brush his lips softly against the brunet's. Nick closed his eyes and after dropping Jeff's hand reached up to hug him around the neck, intensifying the kiss. When they parted, he held on for a little longer, smiling against his boyfriend's lips. _Boyfriend.._

"I insist."


	9. Distortion

„Nicky, please... Move already."

„Oh God, don't stop that.. Right there."

"Nick!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. You're no fun today, you know that?" Nick laughed when he moved off of his boyfriend. He had been straddling Jeff for the past five minutes, trying to distract him from his homework with some dirty talk and hip swinging. Wasn't working, though. The blond simply got pissed off by his manners.

Nick had tried to tease him by moaning super loudly although Jeff wasn't doing anything to him. Well, he was always doing _something_ to him, but in that particular situation not per se. Nick was actually just trying to make the blond shut him up, preferably with a kiss, but he'd had no such luck nor would he in the near future as he guessed from his boyfriend's current mood. Too bad really, but Jeff was pissed. _And he was damn sexy at being so._

"Nick, that's not funny. Somebody might hear you and.. think that we were doing.. stuff." The blond crossed his arms over his chest, a blush creeping up his neck. Not that he'd mind doing _stuff_ with his boyfriend, just not right now and not already. They were only together for like five weeks.. Six tops. Also, he didn't enjoy the jokes from the others as much as his boyfriend.

"That's exactly the fun part," Nick replied as he sat up on the blond's desk, a grin still on his lips. "They already think that we're doing it, like, all the time, just give 'em a little something to work with."

"Nick, that's private stuff! And I don't think it's funny at all," Jeff huffed, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. "I'm serious."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Jeffie." Nick leaned forward to kiss his boyfriend's temple, but the blond was having none of it, shoving him away with his right hand.

"Don't."

"Jeffie, pleeease?" The blond snorted, Nick was like a child sometimes, and sure enough, when he glanced up, he could see that the brunet was giving him puppy dog eyes. The corners of Jeff's mouth twitched as he struggled to suppress a smile. _This will not work on me again, it will not work.. Come on, Sterling, concentrate!_ He jerked his head to the left, looking away from his boyfriend, although it had no use. The smirk carved itself into the blond's face with no chance of fighting it. _Damn those eyes.._ "I'm still angry," he stated as he shot the brunet a look from the side. "But you shall proceed."

Nick's grin widened at his success and he pressed his lips gently against the blond's temple before kissing his way down to Jeff's mouth. _At last!_ He brushed his lips over his boyfriend's, who swiftly moved his hand up to grab the back of Nick's neck. Jeff pulled him closer into a deep kiss, his eyes closed and breathing uneven. _This is just not fair._ He briefly broke their kiss to look into Nick's beautiful chocolate eyes. "You will pay for this..," he whispered threateningly, before he closed the gap between them once more. Nick couldn't help but grin against his boyfriend's lips. _So adorable when he's angry.._

The brunet sat back up on the desk, this position was not the most comfortable one to be in. "Oh, will I?" he asked teasingly.

"Nick, don't push it."

"Or what?"

Jeff massaged he bridge of his nose, his boyfriend really was a child. _What have I done to deserve this? ..Oh, yeah, I fell in love with him_ , he thought to himself. _And now I'm being punished._ "Or nothing." he said finally. "I just wanted to get this done, but apparently Mr. Duval wants to play, so okay, let's play. How would you like it? Out in the hallway? Unless you'd prefer the garden.. Or how about Trent's room?"

"What? No!" Nick was confused. "No, I was just joking, Jeffie. Sorry, I didn't mean to.."

Jeff cut him off mid-sentence. "No, I'm sorry.. Not in the best mood today.. Stupid finals coming up and all." Nick rubbed the back of his neck. _Probably_ not the greatest of times to tease your boyfriend.. He hopped off the desk and pecked Jeff on the cheek. "It's okay. I'll go get some coffee, babe."

The blond blushed at the pet name. It's been over a month and he still didn't get used to all that coupley stuff. Although he really liked it. Really _really_ liked it. If it wasn't for finals, he'd be all over his boyfriend.

"Love you," he replied lowly as the brunet was on his way out. Nick froze in the doorway. They hadn't said that very often and it.. was still super awesome to hear it. Especially after a fight! He ran back to his boyfriend and kissed him with more passion this time. Jeff flinched in surprise as he felt Nick's hand on his chin, lifting his face up to connect their lips. He inhaled sharply at the sudden sensation but quickly adapted to his boyfriend who was now nibbling at his lower lip. The blond parted his lips, granting Nick entrance and soon their tongues moved passionately against each other. The brunet let his hand wander from Jeff's jaw to his light hair, grabbing strains of it while massaging his scalp. His boyfriend was already turning into jelly beneath him, all anger forgotten, when he finally pulled away. Jeff's lips were full and reddened, still parted as he panted lightly. He looked up at Nick with wide eyes.

"I love you too," the brunet uttered under his breath, pecking his boyfriend's cheek once more before he left to get that coffee. Jeff collapsed back into his chair, trying hard to get his own breathing back to normal, and absentmindedly ran his fingers over his mouth. _Wow.._

As he made his way down the dorm hallway, Nick was greeted with several cat calls from all kinds of Dalton students, most of which he had actually never talked to. _Oops._ The brunet had obviously been louder than he'd expected. He ducked his head and blushingly grinned when seeing a familiar face. Walking past Thad's open door, Nick felt a firm grip on his arm and was pulled into the room. Trent closed the door with a thud as he immediately started his analysis.

"Oh my God, Thad, do you see the sex hair?" The Warbler gasped after taking a closer look at Nick's face. "The lips! Do you see that? Oh my.. Fire away, Nick! Tell us everything!"

"Er, guys, I'm actually kind of busy.." Nick made his way to the door again. It was not the first time that Trent had taken special interest in his relationship with Jeff, although that didn't mean anything. Trent took special interest in nearly everything that was none of his business.

"Yeah, whatever, Duval. Spill it! The whole school must have heard your little show earlier!" Thad added impatiently. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Guys, seriously, none of your business. I have somewhere to be." And with that he had wiggled himself out of Trent's grip and left their dorm hastily. He heard a whistle from his left and when he turned his head he saw Blaine and Kurt sitting on a bench further down the hallway. Kurt nudged his boyfriend's arm, blushing heavily as he gave him a dismissive look, but the dark haired boy laughed his objections off. Blaine's eyes met Nick's briefly and, with a wink, he gave him an approving thumbs-up.

 _It's your own fault, Duval. You had to play foul and be the annoying boyfriend.._ Realizing that he was keeping his boyfriend waiting, Nick basically ran the last bit to the cafeteria, grabbed two coffees plus one chocolate cupcake and re-experienced his walk of shame back to their dorm, face down and eyes fixed on the ground. He received less cat calls, but they were still coming, and he nearly dropped his coffee when David slapped him on the shoulder with a stupid grin on his lips. "Way to go, Duval!" The brunet flinched and mentally face palmed himself.

Jeff looked up from his English textbook when he heard the door close. His boyfriend let out a loud sigh and leaned against the wall. "Don't go out there, Jeffie. That was humiliating." He pushed himself off the cold surface and gave Jeff his coffee and the cupcake. "I'm never going to do that moaning thing again. And we are never going to do _anything_ in here, ever!" He'd put his own coffee on his desk and fell face first into his mattress. Jeff chuckled lowly. "I told you." Well, kind of.. "Wait, what do you mean _we won't do anything in here_? Nick?"

The brunet turned his face to look at his boyfriend. "Nothing that would make me.. make those kind of noises again. That was way too embarrassing.. And Dalton's already a gossip factory."

Jeff frowned unhappily. _Well, that certainly backfired._ Although he'd predicted something along these lines.. However, the blond mused, today was a weird day anyhow. Not only today, but the past week. Nothing seemed to really work these days and they both got worked up over stupid things they normally didn't care that much about. Something was up.. but what?

"Nicky?" he eventually said to his boyfriend as he moved to sit beside him on the bed. "Is something wrong? With us?" Nick turned onto his side, arm lifted above his head and eyes squinted. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that we're not ourselves. The whole week was kind of weird, don't you think?"

As the brunet thought about the past few days, he spotted it as well. They had been quarreling a lot, but those were always stupid fights that were actually about nothing at all. No content. Their make ups, on the other hand, were awesome, but also short lived. "Is something different?"

Jeff sat cross-legged on his boyfriend's bed, thinking hard what might have caused this strangeness between them and then it hit him. "Last week, Nicky!" He blushed at the memory. It had been perfect. "You told me for the first time that.. you loved me. And.."

"And you said it back, yes, of course I remember." Nick continued with a smile. He mulled that over in his head. "We.. are the real deal, aren't we?" the brunet said after a while. "I know that I should be uber-happy, but frankly, it's kind of scary."

"I know," Jeff answered as something else dawned upon him. Something that'd been bugging him. "Same here.. But, you know, at the same time all I want is more alone time with you. We are always here, always and forever here.." The blond hadn't realized until now that this had been bothering him. Let alone the pressure of first boyfriend, first love, first everything.

Nick smiled at his boyfriend and motioned him to come closer. "We should go somewhere then, just the two of us. Outside of Dalton." The blond lay down beside him and cuddled up to his side, feeling Nick's fingers brushing through his hair. "Anywhere is fine by me, Nicky. As long as you're there." He wrapped his arm around Nick's waist. "We should talk about this, though. About us, I mean. What this means.."

The brunet pecked the top of Jeff's head. "Soon. When we're alone, love. Actually alone."


	10. Darkroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold! Smuttiness ahead.

"We could spend the day in Columbus!"

Jeff nearly fell off his chair at the sudden outburst from across the room. It was two days after their strange talk and they still hadn't decided how to tackle Project Alone Time, as in how and when to get away from Dalton.

"What?" the blond asked after regaining his composure.. a bit. Nick's exclamation had not exactly been hard to hear since it disrupted a pretty long silence between the two, but it was completely out of context. Jeff turned his head to look at his boyfriend and lifted an eyebrow at him. Nick was practically bouncing up and down on his bed. _Excited much?_

"Columbus, Jeff! I'm telling you, that's it!" Jeff was still looking blankly at him. _The.. explorer?_

"For our getaway? Have you not been listening?"

"You didn't _say_ anything, Nicky," Jeff half-snapped. He crossed his legs and shifted a little in his chair. "So, what about Columbus?"

"My uncle is in New York for, like, a month, some business crap, I don't know. And I think it's ideal.."

The blond didn't follow, math had been addling his brain for the past hour. "So.. what are you saying?"

"I'm saying: you and me, next weekend, Columbus, and I'm not talking about Christopher, love," Nick said with a wink while Jeff lost the confused expression and genuinely beamed at his boyfriend.

"Really?" Half falling, half jumping off his chair, he basically threw himself at the brunet and entangled their bodies as they hit the mattress, before pecking Nick's lips happily. "Awesome!"

Without hesitation, Nick grabbed his boyfriend by the back of his neck and pulled him in for a long kiss. Jeff grinned against his lips, excited and happy about.. everything, really. His euphoria didn't last that long, though. When Nick broke the kiss, he looked sheepishly up at his boyfriend, but not less triumphant.

"Now I only have to ask him," he said.

"What?" Jeff grunted and, pushing himself up with his hands, hovered over the brunet's body. "Way for getting my hopes up, Nick, and crushing them right after." His eyes never leaving Nick, he sat back onto his knees and watched the brunet propping himself up on his elbows. _Damn, he looks hot like that.._

"Well, it _just now_ popped into my head. No reason to be angry," he mumbled, hair ruffled and looking at Jeff with those big innocent eyes. _Double-damn._ The blond took a deep breath before he settled back down, head on his boyfriend's chest. "Just.. tell me when you know for certain, okay?"

"Sure-." Nick's voice hitched when he felt the blond's hand on his stomach, delicate fingers outlining the muscles through the fabric of his dress shirt. He let his head fall back onto the bed, not able to suppress a low moan.

"What is it, Nicky? You like that?" Jeff grinned into the brunet's chest, gently undoing one, then two buttons of Nick's shirt to slide his fingers underneath. The touch was feathery, almost non-existent, and soon the brunet grunted in frustration. "Jeff..." he whined and opened his eyes to look down at his boyfriend.. His boyfriend, who had been watching him with a vicious smirk on his face. "You didn't answer me, _love._ That's not a very nice thing to do," the blond added, his fingers ghosting over Nick's skin.

"I-I do," he breathed out, gaining another smirk from his boyfriend, who withdrew his hand from beneath Nick's shirt almost instantly. With a questioning look on his face, it was now the brunet's turn to keep watching Jeff. His eyes were glistening and beautiful, pupils dark and blown with lust. It took all of Nick's strength to not jump his boyfriend right then just because of those eyes. _To hell with all former resolutions.._

The blond, holding his boyfriend's gaze, moved his hand over his torso up to his collar, undoing the first button at a painfully slow pace before attaching his lips to the newly exposed skin. At this, Nick inhaled sharply and let his own hand wander along Jeff's back, grabbing his shirt when he blond bit down into his skin. Nick didn't even notice that his shirt was completely unbuttoned by then until his boyfriend started to pull it out of his Dalton dress pants, while playfully licking along the brunet's jawline. Nick turned his head and uttered some inaudible words into Jeff's hair.

"What, Nicky?" he responded teasingly, not breaking the contact of his mouth to his boyfriend's collarbone.

"Kiss me," he repeated under his breath.

"But Nicky," he blond said in between kisses just below Nick's ear, "I already am."

 _Okay, enough with the teasing.._ Nick grabbed his boyfriend by the shoulders, moving him roughly away from his neck. Jeff gasped in surprise, having no time to keep his composure before Nick crashed their lips together. The blond finally pressed his hand back onto his stomach, stroking every muscle and after a while rubbing over his right nipple as the brunet bit Jeff's lower lip, demanding entrance. Jeff moaned, he loved it when his boyfriend got all dominant and needy.. He parted his lips and soon found himself wrestling his tongue with Nick's while holding onto his exposed side. The brunet hummed contentedly into his mouth.

When he broke for air, he pressed his lips to the blond's jaw instead. "Take it off," he breathed hot against his skin, lightly tugging at Jeff's shirt. A heat ran through the dancer's body, concentrating in his abdominal area.. and lower.

He groaned and stole another kiss from his boyfriend before sitting up and beginning to unbutton his uniform. He was up on his knees, painfully far away from Nick, who, with dark eyes, was watching his every move. Slowly moving his fingers from button to button, starting with the lowest, Jeff's gaze never left the other boy as he stripped his shirt off at a teasingly sluggish pace. When Nick reached out to touch the blond's stomach, Jeff pushed his hand away, shaking his head with a smirk on his lips.

Done shrugging the shirt off his shoulders, the blond Warbler motioned Nick to sit up as well. Leaning over, he let his hands wander over the brunet's toned chest, then his broad shoulders, shoving the unbuttoned white piece of clothing down with delicate fingers. Jeff had his head hovering next to Nick's, light strains of hair touching the bare skin, as he moved to sit on his boyfriend's lap and straddle him. He lowered his head further until he could mouth soft kisses onto Nick's shoulder, making the brunet moan and shiver beneath him. With his eyes closed shut, Nick tilted his head back and grabbed his boyfriend's waist with both hands. Soon he felt that this wasn't enough, though. He wrapped his arms around the blond, forearms and hands flat against Jeff's back to pull him closer. Feeling the hot touch on his bare skin, Jeff moaned into his boyfriend's hair and, after steadying himself with his arms around the brunet's neck, started to lightly grind his hips against Nick who gasped at the sudden friction. Welcome friction, that was. Very welcome.. _Oh boy.._

"Jeff... Oh God.. Fuck.."

Jeff didn't respond at all. He was panting heavily, every now and then pressing a kiss to Nick's temple or ear, but otherwise fully concentrating on the increasing rhythm with that he ground their bodies together. He only muttered a few moans under his breath when he felt the brunet's length through the fabric of their pants rubbing against his.. _Why were they still wearing pants?_ Jeff's skin was starting to shine from the thin layer of sweat and his hair clung to his face as he basically sat there riding his boyfriend. Trying hard not to lose his focus, the blond ignored his blush and shoved the thoughts aside, so that instead, he moved his hands into Nick's hair and took hold of his thick dark locks. The brunet groaned again, face buried in Jeff's neck, mouth hanging open as he inhaled his boyfriend's scent and dug his fingers into his back..

Out in the hall, Trent had his ear against their door, vainly attempting to overhear, like, anything really.

"You think they're doing it?" he asked Thad who was standing uncomfortably behind his friend.

"Gosh, Trent, don't you think you go a little far? That's kinda creepy, you know.." He trailed off when he thought about his Warbler friend sneaking up on other people.. Or himself even. He quickly decided that he'd never bring a girlfriend to Dalton, ever. _Cree-py._

Trent shifted his feet as he turned to face Thad behind him. "Not at all. This is a dorm, not a porn studio.. Anyway, it's not my fault that I have a healthy level of curiosity and a sense for.. well, gossip."

_Healthy? Yeah, right._

All too hasty, Trent turned around again and bumped his head into the door. "Oh, shit!" he squealed. "Let's go!" Apparently, a _pair_ was not part of his equipment. Thad rolled his eyes, but followed his friend nonetheless, who was actually running down the hall. _God..._

"You hear that?" Jeff had stopped his motions, head snapped up towards their door. "Did someone just knock?" He was on his way to move off his boyfriend, when Nick grabbed his waist and held him by his side.

"Jeff," he uttered, "You can't be serious.. You're not going to leave me here, even if there was a bomb scare or something!" He moved his hips and ground into Jeff from underneath, eliciting a moan from his boyfriend.

"But, Nicky..." The blond quickly lost that train of thought when he started to feel a familiar heat rising in his stomach. "Oh fuck.."

"God, that's so hot.. Say some more..," Nick moaned into Jeff's chest, almost over the edge himself. The blond gasped and threw his head back, his hips grinding against his boyfriend again. He muttered a series of _ah_ s, then, as he could feel that his climax was near, he fixed his gaze on Nick's lust blown eyes. "Oh God, Nick, I-I.." He was cut off by a pair of lips pressing hard against his own, kissing him open-mouthed.

Letting his tongue flick against the blond's, Nick bucked his hips up again and soon his orgasm ripped through his body. Jeff watched his boyfriend coming completely undone beneath him and withdrew slightly from their kiss. His mouth still hovering over Nick's and with parted lips, he was panting even heavier and then, all of a sudden, he saw stars when he came hard, head falling onto Nick's shoulder.

Chests heaving and breathing uneven, they fell back into the mattress and snuggled up to one another.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," Jeff mumbled under his breath, a smile gradually infecting the corners of his mouth.

"I know, right?"

"Ohmygod, Nick.."

"Yeah.. incredible.."

Jeff looked over at his boyfriend who was beaming back at him. _Wow.._ Nevertheless, feeling a little gross, the blond got up rather soon, undoing his belt on the way to the bathroom, actually baffling Nick in the process. _Round two.. maybe?_ The brunet let his head fall back onto the bed, grinning happily to himself.

"So," the blond's voice was nearly drowned by the sound of water splashing in the sink. "Columbus, eh?"


	11. Alone Part 1

"I can't believe we're actually doing this!"

Jeff was bouncing in the passenger seat, clapping his hands together like a five year old on too much sugar. It was adorable.. although really distracting. Nick sighed and tried to concentrate on the road, it was only, like, a half an hour drive, but nonetheless. He didn't want to crash on their two month anniversary.. or anytime really. And yes, they went a little later than originally planned, namely after their last final. But the brunet liked the idea of the getaway being even more special due to the date.

 _Two months.. oh boy.. that felt like no time at all. Imagine two years.. or two decades._ He blushed heavily and a smile twitched the corners of his mouth. _Imagine forever.._

Still smiling softly, Nick suddenly froze as another thought crossed his mind that he'd suppressed for the last week. _Two... Two days! We'll be alone, completely alone.. for two days and two nights.. Oh boy.. Will he..? Does he want to..? Oh God.._

Jeff glanced over at his boyfriend, his expression swiftly changing from happy to worried. Nick's grip on the steering wheel had tightened, making the knuckles of his hands stand out and turn white. Gently, the blond reached over to touch him, but he stopped shortly before doing so.

"Nick?"

The brunet flinched. _Don't crash. Everything is fine.. This is not what this weekend is about. You'll talk about your relationship, not have actual.. relations._ Nick was freaking out, the idea making him extremely uncomfortable. And he didn't even understand why. He loved his boyfriend, he _wanted_ him, badly, so why was this so awkward when the chance for them to be together was actually there?

He felt light pressure on his thigh and glanced down for a split-second.

"Nicky, what's bothering you?"

"Could you move your hand away, it's distracting.. Thanks." Nick didn't really want to talk about this right now. His fears were his to bear.. and hopefully overcome. Jeff sighed lowly after withdrawing his hand, letting it fall down into his lap.

With sad eyes, the blond turned towards his window and, his head resting against the glass, watched the outer world rush by. Minutes passed without either of them saying another word, before Nick shuffled in his seat. Jeff only caught the movement in the corner of his eye and was determined not to react in any way. He frowned at himself. _Since when do you PMS this much?_

"Sorry," Nick's voice broke the silence. "I didn't mean to.. Just sorry." He paused briefly, but got no response. "Jeff?"

Jeff blinked slowly as he answered in a neutral tone. "Wanna talk about it?"

Considering it, the brunet decided he'd rather fixate on driving right now. "I just.. had a little freak-out. It's nothing really, I got this." Nick glanced over solely to see his boyfriend looking at him partly sad, partly concerned. "I'll tell you later, okay?" He reached out and laced their fingers together, squeezing Jeff's hand reassuringly. The blond turned his head and focused on everything outside the car again, his heart feeling a tad lighter, although only one thing was floating around in his head.. _Freak-out?_

They arrived at Nick's uncle's apartment in German Ville in the early evening. It was a cute place in a large building that probably cost a fortune to rent. It even had a pool they were able to see from their balcony.

"Wow," Jeff exclaimed, walking through the rooms. "Feels like a hotel, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, he doesn't keep a lot of personal stuff since he's always traveling. Not my cup of tea, though." He let his bag fall to the floor. He'd scanned the apartment for anything that didn't look ready-furnished, coming up empty.

"I know what you mean," the blond said, touching and turning one of the two photographs in the living room. It was of the Duval's at some family event, he guessed. Nick was there, too, on the side next to his mother. _Cute as always._ Jeff smiled, putting the picture down again, and stepped over to hug his boyfriend from behind. He nestled into the brunet's neck and pecked his cheek.

"Hi."

Nick leaned back, grinning happily as he held Jeff's hands, resting on his stomach. "Hi."

The blond inhaled deeply, memorizing the scent of Nick's soft hair as he snuggled a bit closer into his boyfriend. "Thanks for this," he murmured against the brunet's temple.

"Don't mention it.. You hungry?"

"Starving!"

Nick chuckled at Jeff's adorableness and gently wiggled himself out of their embrace. "Come on, then," he said with a smile still spread across his lips and, taking the blond's hand, he led them to the door. "I'm buying," he added with a wink.

"So, where are we going?" Jeff asked as they were in the car and already driving. He had no clue where they were, although they crossed the occasional fast food place.. _Damn, I'm hungry.._ "Do you actually know?"

"Sure," the brunet replied. "Grove city." Jeff didn't follow. _Whatever, I'll find out soon enough._

The car came to a halt and, after stepping out, Jeff basically squealed as soon as he saw the restaurant in front of them. It belonged to the same chain where they went for their first date in Westerville. "Oh my Gosh, Nick!" He hopped over and hugged his boyfriend tightly, arms wrapped around his neck and enthusiastically kissing the brunet's cheek. "I love you."

"You too. I figured you might like it. Glad I was right," Nick grinned. "Okay, now, let's get something Italian! With lots of grease, cheese and meat and... What?" Jeff'd twisted his lips in disgust at his boyfriend's idea of a tasty dinner. "Fiiine," the brunet grunted. Jeff didn't even have to say anything, Nick knew anyhow.. "I'll go for something more healthy this time," he murmured, waving his hands in the air in defeat as he saw a smirk playing on his boyfriend's lips.

"Pizza is not healthy, you know."

  
  


*

  
  


Back at Dalton, Trent was lying upside down on one of the sofas in the common room, head hanging down from the seat. Opposite from him, there were David and Wes studying for their last final. Why they couldn't do that in the library remained a mystery to him, but he wasn't allowed to bitch.. Since, being bored as hell, Trent had nothing to do other than to watch these two. So, no Wes and David: no one to observe.

"Guys, I'm bored." Not many students were at Dalton that weekend. Not long until summer break and everyone was already flying out. Only the ones with exams left, spend their time in their dorms or, in the Warblers council's case, the common room.

"Seriously, Trent, go study or find yourself a hobby!" Wes was annoyed. He was behind on his schedule and Kurt was using their dorm for some crazy outfit making before he'd go home later that evening. David put his hand on his friend's arm as he sensed Wes' gavel instinct coming through. "Relax, man." They were trying hard to break that habit of his since the head council member would graduate this year and there'd be no gavel for him in college. Too bad really.

Trent rolled his eyes and himself off the sofa. "Whatever, Sirs, I'm out." Strolling on campus when there was nearly no one around was weird and unfortunately also uneventful, much to Trent's dislike. Usually he'd be looking what his fellow Glee clubbers were up to, but since no one was there.. Stupid boys going out with their significant others.. Now that he thought about it, he spent most of his weekends within Dalton with the other Warblers, especially with the Niff..

What were they doing anyhow? Some sweet coupley stuff, for sure.. Not that he was interested. Okay, who was he kidding?

Trent went up to the dorms and lay down on his bed, head again hanging down from the edge of the mattress. _Gosh, I need a girlfriend.._

  
  


_*_

  
  


"Open!"

"What?"

"I said, open," Nick laughed, "Your mouth, dummy." They sat at the kitchen counter in the apartment, eating leftover tiramisu from their dinner. Nick was balancing quite the amount of it on a fork in front of Jeff's face, attempting to feed his boyfriend.

"That's so cheesy, Nick," the blond said, although he was grinning widely, before he snatched at the fork. Jeff licked his lips just for good measure, not aware that he actually had some cream at the corner of his mouth. "Yummi!" he concluded with a smirk.

"You.. have.." Blushing heavily, Nick pointed his finger, not able to finish his sentence when the blond licked his lips again, more seductively this time. _Oh boy._ He gulped and reached out, slowly wiping the smudge off of his boyfriend's mouth. When he was about to remove his hand, Jeff grabbed his wrist and held him in place, taking Nick's thumb between his lips, and licked the tiramisu off.

Nick wanted nothing more than to attack that mouth and tackle his boyfriend to the ground- Bed, wall, sofa.. Anywhere was fine, really.. _Remember that freak-out in the car, Duval? Yeah, that happened for a reason._ He took a deep breath and turned his head away.

"Something wrong?" Jeff had released his boyfriend's hand and looked at him quizzically. "Was that gross?"

"No, not at all. On-On the contrary." The blond followed Nick's gaze, who had bowed his head, and soon was able to see the _condition_ his boyfriend was in.

"Oh," Jeff said lowly. "Always glad to make you happy," he added, grinning from ear to ear. Deciding that he was definitely in the same mood, he reached out, but Nick moved his hand away and, folding his arms across his chest, turned to lean against the counter.

"That's er.. That's not why we're here," the brunet mumbled. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off Jeff for too long when he was this close, so he had fled. He pushed himself off the counter with his butt and moved over to the couch, plunging into the cushions at once to keep his thoughts straight.. and PG-13.

But, of course, his boyfriend sat quietly down next to him. "Nick?"

"You're making it very hard for me to ignore you, Jeff."

The blond raised an eyebrow at him. "You want to ignore me?"

"Well, it's obvious that my body doesn't, but we haven't talked yet and I wanna do that first. So yes, I'm trying to ignore you.. Otherwise I might jump you." Nick was blushing at admitting how much he actually wanted his boyfriend and turned his face away again.

Jeff smiled. _Gosh, this is hot.._ Playing hard to get was kind of a turn on for him.. Figures. "Talk then."

The sun was already setting. the last reddish-orangey sunbeams shone in through the broad living room window. Nick closed his eyes, turning his face directly into the rays, and took a deep breath. "Well," he began, "I got a lot to tell you. Just let me, okay?" He shifted on his seat so that he sat cross-legged on the sofa cushion, one arm resting in his lap, the other on the backrest.

"First things first," he continued, his gaze set on Jeff's beautiful brown eyes watching him in anticipation. The blond was seated rather casually on the sofa, one leg up, the other one dangling down, but Nick could see that his boyfriend wasn't relaxed at all. "I love you, Jeff, and there's nothing that might change that. But.. but that scares me.. I mean, how can I love you this much? We're only 17, and yet I keep thinking how I want to spend the rest of my life with you." The brunet was starting to ramble and he knew it, but his mind was all over the place.

Jeff reached out and this time Nick let him intertwine their fingers on top of his knee. "It really scares me, Jeffie, that I want you all to myself, that I want to keep you and share only what I need."

Nick couldn't handle looking at his boyfriend anymore, Jeff was starting to cry. "And I don't really know what I'm doing, but my body is obviously set on you, but.. what if that stuff ruins us? And you mean too much to me for me to risk that and I.. Please don't cry, Jeff! I will love you for as long as I'll be and be with you for as long as you'll have me.."

Silent tears were falling down Jeff's cheeks and he wiped some of them away with his free hand before running it through his blond hair. "Gosh, Nick," he chuckled. "You're adorable." Nick shot him an unamused look, but flushed a little. "You're over-thinking stuff, but yet, adorable." He laughed again. "Gosh, I love you so much, Nicholas Duval, it's starting to hurt. Of course I want you, badly even, but hell, I'll wait till we're 40, if I have to." Nick smiled at that. Forty, eh? Well, that may be a little far.

"Although you might not believe me, I want this life, Nick, with you, just as much as you do. And I'm scared, I really am, but we can be scared together and just go for it, so that hopefully everything turns out like we want it to. And even if it doesn't, we'll still have our love for each other.. Like you said, this is the real deal. And I'm in if you are.."

Now it was Nick's turn to cry, if only a few tears. Jeff leaned over and kissed them away. "So, that freak-out in the car.. was that about this?" he asked after sitting back again.

"Yeah, well, sort of. I thought you might wanted to _do it_ this weekend and, well, you know my concerns about that stuff now."

"It won't ruin us, Nicky, but as I said, we can wait if you want us to, And just for the record, I didn't plan anything for this weekend, although I must say, I always want you," the blond said with a wink.

"It's all a little overwhelming," Nick admitted to his boyfriend before he crawled over to cuddle up next to him.

"Yeah, I know, my body is a lot to take in.." The brunet hit Jeff lightly in the stomach at that comment, although he really couldn't deny any of that. "Hey! You know it's true, you want _this_ ," the blond smirked, motioning with his hand up and down his torso.

Nick sighed. "I do," he said super lowly. Jeff had heard, of course, and grinned with more confidence than ever.

"So, you admit that you want me? How much?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"Unbelievably attractive?"

"That too."

 

*****

  
  


"Nick? Nicky?" Jeff was gently shaking his boyfriend, kissing his temple as he felt the brunet budge next to him. "Wake up, sleepy head."

"Ugh, don't wanna.." Nick snuggled further into the blond's chest, but Jeff freed himself from his embrace.

"Come on, love, we fell asleep on the couch. We can continue this in bed, okay? Come." Dragging his boyfriend up by his arm, Jeff managed to get Nick going, even if reluctantly. The bedroom was luckily only one door away, so that the blond didn't have to support Nick for too long. Come to think of it, he usually loved sleepy Nick. He was adorable, bumping his head every morning, but right now it was rather exhausting. Well, who was Jeff to talk.. His boyfriend had told him on numerous occasions that his own sleepy mode wasn't the easiest to handle, either.

Nick fell face first into his uncle's king sized bed, ready to doze off again. Jeff, on the other hand, was taking his clothes off, and only in his trunks, started to undress the brunet as well.

"Kinky," Nick mumbled into the mattress. Jeff couldn't suppress a smile, although he didn't deign his boyfriend a respond other than a playful slap on his ass, before trying to actually get him under the covers.

He turned off the lights and crawled in next to his boyfriend, who automatically attached himself to the blond's body, wrapping his arms around his torso. Jeff smiled again when he felt light pecks being pressed onto his skin and he gently ran his fingers through Nick's soft hair.

"You know," the brunet murmured into his chest, "This could be our apartment."

 _Well, that's random.._ Jeff chuckled. "I doubt that. Too expensive."

"I mean, in the future. We could live together, just like this.."

"We already live together, Nick." The blond kissed his boyfriend's head, amused by his sleepy rambling.

"Not really, not like this," the brunet grumbled in response. Jeff could hear him inhale deeply as he cuddled up even closer to him. "Our _own_ apartment.."

"Sure, sure.. If this was ours, though, I'd need to redecorate." He answered, yawning in between words.

"All I'd need is you.."

 _Ohmygosh.._ Jeff aww'd inside and wanted to kiss his boyfriend so bad right now, but sensing that Nick was almost out he settled for pecking his hair instead. "I love you, Nicky. Sleep well." He didn't receive an answer, at least not that night, other than the sound of Nick's steady breathing and the feeling of warm air hitting his chest alongside. It didn't take long after that for Jeff to drop off as well.

Saturday - big day.. Sort of.

Jeff was up and about at an ungodly hour for a weekend. He couldn't help it, though. He was a morning person, plus they'd been in bed at, like, 10 pm. It felt strange to wake up in these unfamiliar surroundings, although something hadn't changed at all. He'd woken up buried under a warm body, his chest covered in dark strains of hair, shoulders and an arm. Well, that's what he was able to see..

Jeff smiled to himself and watched his boyfriend lying on top of him for good half an hour, absentmindedly running his fingers through the soft brown birds nest that kept Nick's face out of his sight. Although half of it was hidden in his chest, anyway. Carefully, the blond slid away from under his boyfriend and covered him with a blanket, not before peeking at his delicious muscular back, though. He sighed lowly. _Why can't I look this hot without a shirt?_

He walked into the living area to grab his bag, feeling a little cold without Nick by his side and, well, clothes. After a quick stop in the bathroom, Jeff was fully dressed while the brunet remained unconscious. _The usual_ , he chuckled. His stomach was begging for his attention as he stood in the bedroom doorway, hands on his hips. The blond didn't really expect there to be anything in the fridge, but he went looking anyway. With his head inside, he froze on the spot. Nick's uncle had left him a message, probably not meant for Jeff's eyes. _Most probably.._ He took the piece of paper out and closed the door again.

_Hey Nickster,_

_have fun and don't destroy the apartment.. Please?_

_Also, be safe. I know that you come with your boyfriend, so don't do anything I wouldn't! Well, that doesn't really limit you now, does it? Well, be safe anyhow, little nephew. Protection is in the drawers left from the bed._

_Love, Dan_

Jeff was red as a tomato, hand covering his mouth as he reread the letter. Nick hadn't seen this yet, right? _Gosh, somebody say_ awkward? He faltered a bit before putting the letter back into the fridge. _When had his uncle even been here? And...left drawer, huh? No, stop it, Jeff.._ He quickly grabbed Nick's car keys and, to distract his mind, went to buy some breakfast.

Nick woke up to the smell of hot steamy deliciousness. _Oh, sweet baby Jesus, that's coffee..._ He opened one eye, immediately squinting it shut again at the sight of a large white cup in his boyfriend's hands, who dangled it in front of his face. "Gimme!" he grumbled, his voice thick with sleep and arm flailing about to get ahold of Jeff's wrist.

 _Such a cutie.._ Jeff couldn't help but smirk as he dodged Nick's hand and went to leave the bedroom, swiftly drawing the curtains open alongside. He chuckled at his own cruelty.. He was having way too much fun at teasing grumpy Sleeping Beauty. _Whatever, it's already late in the morning, he can get up.._ "Be a good boy and come, get it."

Nick wasn't too happy, to say the least. He was mumbling profanities into the covers as he slowly got up on his knees and then rolled off the bed. "Good boy, my ass.." The brunet's face and hair were a mess and his running his hands through them didn't really help either. As he scratched his stomach, he realized that he wasn't wearing any clothes, except for, and he had to look down to confirm, his black trunks. "Did you undress me?"

Jeff chuckled as he heard the words being half-shouted from the other room while he drank his coffee in the kitchen. "Yes," he said, looking over the edge of his cup when Nick joined him. "You were there, you should know."

Nick grabbed his cup and began drinking eagerly. His eyes wandered to Jeff's for only a split-second before he stiffened, remembering something as he leaned against the cold counter. "Did you.. um.. slap my butt.. yesterday?" The blond almost chocked on his bagel, he was laughing so hard. He kept coughing in between chuckles, holding his stomach with Nick just staring at him blankly. When Jeff had regained his composure, he took another sip from his coffee.

The brunet raised his eyebrows at him. "So?"

"Well, yes, I did."

"What's so funny, then?"

 _Gosh, sleepy Nick is the best.._ "You're adorable," Jeff merely stated and got up from his seat, walking around the counter to hug his still barely dressed boyfriend around the waist. "Don't tell me you didn't like it," he whispered, his lips softly brushing over Nick's neck before he kissed the exposed skin.

"You're terrible," the brunet murmured, leaning his head back to hide his blush and peck Jeff's cheek, only to swiftly get up right after. "I need to.. um," he motioned up and down his body, "like, dress."

"Doesn't bother me," the blond said with a smirk, but Nick was already halfway by the bathroom door, busy with not taking any notice of him or at least pretending that he didn't hear what Jeff had just said.

The blond took a look at his reflection in the full-length mirror next to one of the sofas. _Would it.. bother him?_ He turned left and right to look at his body more closely. Since he didn't really know what they would be doing today, he'd just thrown on his normal jeans and a black tight fitting V-neck with long sleeves. Very simple, very casual. Too casual? He frowned at himself in the mirror. _My inner queen is showing again.._

"Happy with your choice?" Nick had appeared behind the blond in light brown chinos and a dark gray t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up a bit. He smiled brightly at Jeff via his reflection in the mirror. "Or do I need to call Kurt?"

"Nah, I look hot." Jeff winked at his boyfriend, who then wrapped his arms around the tall boy's waist and firmly let his hands wander over his stomach, watching him close his eyes at the touch. Nick started to trace his boyfriend's defined abs through the dark fabric and, able to elicit a moan from the blond, grinned, pleased with the reaction.

"I agree," Nick answered lowly as he nestled his nose in the crook of Jeff's neck, placing open-mouthed kisses onto the sensitive skin. His left hand teasingly brushed over the waistband of his boyfriend's jeans before he went back up to lift the black long sleeve a little and let his fingers touch the tan skin.

Jeff's eyes flew open and he hastily took Nick's hand under his own, guiding it with more pressure over his stomach. He inhaled sharply a few times, this felt way too good.. The room was completely quiet except for both their harsh breathings while the brunet lightly bit onto Jeff's neck and the tall boy was sure that he'd leave a visible mark there for everyone to see.

"Nicky," he breathed. "We should stop.."

"Why?" Nick replied in between soothing licks over the bruising skin at the back Jeff's neck. The blond didn't respond right away, but gently moved Nick's hand further down his stomach and over the waistband of his jeans. He pulled his hand so far down that soon the brunet understood the problem at hand. He blushed a bright red, but didn't let go just then. Instead he pressed himself against Jeff's back, steadying himself by taking a hold of the blond's hips, so that he could feel that it was a mutual thing.

Jeff moaned lowly and he began panting lightly. "Oh, that's bad.."

Nick pulled away, only to be captured in a long and needy kiss as his boyfriend spun around immediately, taking the brunet's face in between both his hands.

"Okay, for real now," Jeff murmured against the brunet's lips after he pulled away. "But.." Nick tried to intervene, but the blond cut in before he himself might reconsider. "No funny business!" He turned away and managed to cool off after a few deep breaths. Nick, on the other hand, needed a little more time, pondering about how he basically got cock-blocked by his own boyfriend. Not fair! _Okay, you can do this, Duval! Dead kittens, grandma in her underwear, Kurt in a dress, Wes and gavel in bed together.._ He twisted his lips in disgust and joined Jeff in the kitchen.

"For the record, not cool.. Now, let's go," he said as he grabbed his wallet and keys, reaching out to take Jeff's hand. The blond took it gladly, smirking at his boyfriend's sour disposition. Again, having too much fun with the teasing, he thought to himself before he swiftly pecked Nick on the cheek and followed him out of the apartment.

  
  


*****

  
  


"Oh my Gosh, YES! Polaris!" _Again_ , Jeff was clapping his hands and bouncing in the passenger seat like a six year old about to get some candy. "Yes, yes, yes! I love that mall, it's so freaking awesome!" They were just driving onto the parking lot of the Polaris Fashion Place, looking for a good space to leave the car at.

"Yeah, totally," Nick replied lamely, winking at Jeff who glared at him from the side. _How dare he.._ The brunet knew that his boyfriend was a fashion freak, not nearly as bad as a certain chestnut haired boy, but he had his phases.. He grinned to himself, knowing that he'd made the right decision.

He parked the car and they went straight for the grand entrance, finding the blond's current favorite place to shop right away. Nick sighed lowly. _The right decision_ was going to give him a headache pretty soon. You do what you can to make him happy, he thought. Everything for my lucky number Six. And he tried to enjoy as much of it as he possibly could..

Which was about three out of the five hours spent that day..

"Babe, I can't believe you bought another one. Aren't you fed up with those from our uniform? I know I am." Nick was carrying the blond's shopping bags, while they strolled about in the parking lot. They had some new stuff but also Jeff's former clothes in them, since he had changed into a new set, looking all cute in his pair of skinny jeans, ripped at both knees, a blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a black tie. _Tie..._ Nick snorted mentally.

It was in the late afternoon when they had gotten through all the shops that Jeff wanted to pay a visit to, it had been fun, even if exhausting.. Most of it. Nick loved when his boyfriend got all excited like that, since, FYI, it was super adorable, but he was still happy when the tiring part was done with. Although he couldn't deny that the whole day his smile was practically plastered onto his face as long as he kept looking at his boyfriend. Jeff was his own personal little chipmunk or something. Maybe not that _little_ per se.. A familiar voice brought him back from his train of thought.

"I couldn't disagree more, _babe_ ," Jeff said happily, his arm interlinked with the brunet's as they walked to the car. "Thanks for carrying that, by the way. You're such a gentleman," he added in a half-whisper and quickly placed a peck on Nick's cheek.

Grinning at the little caress, Nick turned to the tall boy as they reached their destination. "Say it!" the brunet asked in a steady voice, the grin still in place. In the cool shadow of Nick's car Jeff didn't need to think twice before he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck.

"You are.." He leaned in a little closer, "..the best. boyfriend. ever. And I love you."

Nick closed the distance between them and kissed the blond softly on the lips. Then a second time and a third time. And a fourth for good measure. "Love you too." After one final peck, he withdrew from their warm embrace and unlocked the car, placing Jeff's purchases in the backseat. The blond was already inside, when Nick got in as well. Jeff looked at him in anticipation, but as his boyfriend continued to say nothing, he restarted the conversation.

"So, where are we gonna eat tonight?"

"I thought, maybe we could, like, cook something at the apartment," Nick answered warily, clearly avoiding eye contact with his boyfriend. They had never done something like this before, something this _mature?_ Well, maybe not _never,_ but their relationship was definitely not as coupley as Klaine's, for example. It was weird somehow. They had just talked about it the other night how they were growing into the more adult type of stuff, so what was so awkward about cooking together? _It's only freaking cooking, Nick, get a grip._

Jeff took his hand and laced their fingers together. "Sounds great!"

On their way back they stopped at a supermarket to get some groceries. They'd decided on something simple, like kebabs with rice. Yeah, super simple, Nick thought. But fortunately his boyfriend knew what he was doing. He picked everything out, letting the brunet carry the shopping basket as they wandered through the aisles. The only real decision he made was what dessert they were gonna have, causing Jeff to basically skip happily to the frozen-food section, leaving his boyfriend behind.

Happy to have found the right freezer, Jeff bend over to get some frozen yoghurt from the bottom shelf. If he could, he would have that stuff every day. Literally. Not immediately finding the flavors he was looking for, the blond spent nearly a minute with his butt in the air, not unnoticed by a certain brunet, who had arrived in the aisle just as Jeff had opened the door.

Nick bit his bottom lip, almost dropping their basket at the sight in front of him. He leaned back against one of the chest type freezers across the aisle and enjoyed the show. _Is he doing this on purpose? Again?_ He caught himself reaching out, but stopped in time as the blond got up and spun around to face him, two colorful packets in his hands.

"Found it!" Jeff beamed at his boyfriend, although he furrowed his brows when he lay eyes on Nick. He had a peculiar look on his face, somehow empty and stunned maybe, gaze focused on the tall boy's lower half. "Nick?"

Jeff blushed as he saw a pair of hazel eyes slowly wandering up his body until they reached his, pupils dark and unreadable. He flinched back when Nick made a move and stepped forward, although it had no use since the brunet was much faster and had already grabbed Jeff by his tie. "Nick?" he tried again, his words no more than a whisper in the empty aisle.

The brunet didn't answer, his eyes still gazing into Jeff's, and with a leering smile on his lips he swiftly pulled him down by the tie to steal a kiss. The blond opened his mouth at once, shortly overwhelmed by the sudden outburst of passion, and Nick took the opportunity to deepen their embrace. He moved his tongue harshly against Jeff's, transferring all his lust and frustration into his movements, while pressing the tall boy against the freezer. He let his hand wander behind the blond's back to grab his ass through the fabric of his jeans, causing his boyfriend to moan against his lips.

He withdrew slightly from the kiss. "You can't just present your hot body to me like that and not expect a reaction," Nick murmured while trailing his mouth along the blond's jawline. And with that he was gone and back by their abandoned basket, making his way down the aisle. Jeff only stood there stunned, head abut against the cold door and lips slightly parted. _What just happened?_

He managed to get his legs to work again and as soon as he caught up with his boyfriend, he put his hand into his. "What the hell, Nick?" he whispered into the brunet's ear a little breathlessly. Nick shot him an evil grin from the side.. _Remember this morning, Jeffie? Payback's a bitch!_

"Now you know what that feels like.."

"Oh, you're so getting it later, Duval!" Jeff said in a low voice, but when he saw his boyfriend's smirk, he quickly rephrased that. "I mean, you're not getting anything, actually." Nonchalantly, he let go off Nick's hand and strolled along in front of the brunet, seductively swaying his hips from side to side. "Nothing of _this.._ ," then he turned around and while walking backwards trailed his hands over his torso. "Or _this_.. Oh, you know, you want it."

Nick rolled his eyes and snorted, but wasn't able to suppress a smile. "Gosh, what's gotten into us these days? We're terrible."

The blond just shrugged and once more linked his hand with Nick's as they made their way to the check out. "I don't know.. Hormones? Can't help it that I'm so damn sexy, Nicky," he said with a playful smirk on his lips. "Or that you are," he added, leaning close to the side of the brunet's face, pecking his cheek once.

"Don't do that." Nick had stiffened near the cash out.

"Do what?"

"Tell me something like that.. when I can't.. react appropriately."

Jeff smiled to himself, again leaning closer to his boyfriend, and brushed his lips lightly over his ear. "And what would that be?"

Nick let go off the blond's hand, trying to naturally place their shopping basket in front of his jeans. "You're going to pay for this, Sterling," he murmured, glaring at an amused looking Jeff. _Great for him that he is enjoying himself.. Bastard._

_And how am I the one who has to cool off again? So not fair!_

The apartment building was quiet when they got inside a little later. No one was at the pool, no children screaming, no loud music, no nothing. Jeff felt like he had to place every step extra carefully, uneasy about making too much noise. Nick, on the other hand, was stomping in front of him and with a sigh let their bags fall to the floor in a loud thud. His hair was still tousled from their make out session in the car after they'd gotten out of the grocery store. He had been pretty angry with Jeff, but the blond got him to shut up with surprising ease.

He smirked at the fresh memory. _Hot._

  
  


*

  
  


"I'm glad you know what you're doing. This smells great!"

"Oh thanks, honey." Jeff said, winking at Nick over his shoulder, and made a curtsey. The brunet rolled his eyes, but didn't want to elaborate on his boyfriend's behavior. At least not as long as Jeff wasn't done cooking.. _Wow, that sounded laddish.._ Instead, he went for something a little safer.

"'Honey'? Really?"

"You don't like it?"

"That's not what I meant." Maybe this wasn't as safe as he'd thought. "It's just.. new?"

"Don't freak, Nicky, I was joking." The blond turned to face his boyfriend, a smirk on his lips and arms wrapped around his middle, the spatula still in one hand. "But I do feel like this homemaker-wifey-thing right now, being in the kitchen and all, after a day of shopping... Oh, don't look at me like that!" He watched the look in Nick's eyes, which had obviously been wandering down his body before they snapped back to his face. "And I'm not going to wear a frill apron or a dress. Ever! So forget about that immediately!" Before he turned his attention back to the chicken and vegetable spits in the pan, he swayed the spatula threateningly into Nick's face whilst glaring at the grinning brunet, who held a hand over his heart in mock-protest. _Who, he? Never!_ The grin left his lips pretty quickly, though, and he had the sudden urge to apologize or at least make Jeff feel appreciated.

Soon after turning around, two strong arms were slipping around the blond's waist and he felt light kisses being pressed against the back of his neck. The atmosphere changed straightaway. "I love you, beautiful," Nick said lowly against the blond's skin. "So beautiful.." Inhaling the beloved scent of his boyfriend, he kissed Jeff's neck some more, eliciting a shiver in the tall boy.

"N-Nick," the blond managed to breathe out. "Stop distracting me." He gently pushed his boyfriend's hands away and whilst turning got the brunet to back off a little. Nick had an apologetic expression on his face, so that in passing, Jeff sneaked a peck on his temple as he began to collect the dishes. "I love you too."

An hour later the sun was about to set and all the cooking supplies where back were they belonged. Jeff and Nick sat on the sofa, stomach's full and feet on the coffee table.

"I can't believe you ate all that.. How do you stay so skinny?" The brunet poked into Jeff's side, causing him to laugh.

"Are you kidding me? Right now I feel like I'm about to rip the buttons off these pants."

Nick leaned over and pecked the blond's jaw. "No way, love. Also, these jeans look way too good on you. Maybe you should just take 'em off before you ruin them.."

Jeff slapped his boyfriend's arm, although he was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, stop it."

"Huh, too bad," Nick shrugged. "So...," he tapped his index finger onto his mouth as if mulling something over in his mind. "You wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure."

Nick beamed at the blond and started up from his seat instantly. "Great!" he exclaimed before he held his hand out for Jeff as a help up.

After they both had gotten their shoes and Nick his leather jacket on, he led the way out of the apartment and through his uncle's neighborhood. Jeff hadn't even realized until then that they weren't really that far from the park. When the brunet made them turn a corner, he could already hear the water floating by. They reached the river in under twenty minutes and began walking down the promenade. It was really peaceful, also quite beautiful as the sun had started to set, bathing everything in an orange light. Nick turned his head to watch at the tall boy from the side. He looked stunning in this lighting..

Jeff, who had had his hands in the pockets of his jeans, reached out and intertwined his fingers with Nick's without taking his eyes off the glistening water, unaware of the warm smile he received from his boyfriend in return.

A few people on bikes were passing by, making the boys walk closer together until they reached a bench near shore. Lightly tugging at the brunet's hand, Jeff led them towards it to sit down and enjoy the soft evening breeze. It had gotten noticeably more chilly and the blond rolled the sleeves of his shirt down, trying his best to hide the goose bumps on his arms. Nick shifted a bit away from him and before he even realized what was happening he was already wrapped in the brunet's jacket.

"You didn't have to.." The blond was cut off by a small kiss being pressed onto the corner of his mouth.

"I wanted to."

  
  


*****

  
  


The next morning during breakfast (Jeff was making pancakes), Nick was busy figuring out his uncle's coffee machine. _Freaking high tech gimmicky thing.._ Finally able to get it going, the brunet sighed very pleased with his technical skills and went on to get mugs and the sweetened condensed milk they'd bought the day before, although Jeff hadn't even realized that this humungous thing was actually meant for coffee.

It was Nick's first time to open the fridge in these three days they'd spent in his uncle's apartment. Before, he just never had to, since Jeff had been the one cooking and storing all of their stuff. He looked inside and, after taking the milk and a funny looking piece of paper out, froze as he read the letter with the fridge still open. Eventually he kicked the door shut.

Standing right next to the brunet, Jeff had been taking sidelong glances at him out of the corner of his eye and didn't dare to move. As he risked another, he was met with a horrified expression on Nick's face who was disbelievingly bandying looks between the piece of paper and his boyfriend, his face lighting up in a vivid red.

The blond was blushing himself, judging from the sudden heat rising up his neck. After a while, Nick shifted a little and was the first to speak up.

"I take it you've seen this before?"

"Um, yes. Yesterday morning," Jeff replied shyly. Nick hung his head, rubbing his eyes and the bridge of his nose with furrowed brows. This was _so_ embarrassing.

"Okay, I'm just gonna throw this away and we'll never talk about my inappropriate family ever again."

Jeff flipped a pancake and kept his eyes on the stove while a crumpling noise disrupted the tense silence. "Jeff?"

"You said we wouldn't talk about it."

Nick sighed as he made his way back to the counter where he'd been eating his breakfast. He was surprised when his boyfriend suddenly spun around and faced him with an odd expression on his face.

"Just wondering.. Do you expect me to believe that your uncle is just assuming stuff out of thin air?" Jeff placed one hand on his hip and started to sway the spatula again. "What did you tell him about us?" He caught a glimpse of himself in the hallway mirror and faltered, not really taking notice that Nick was already answering. _Did I really just say that? Who am I? My mom?_

"...and it's not as if you and I haven't talked about this, like, only yesterday, Jeff. I didn't tell him anything. He's just.. more open with this kind of stuff.."

"I'm sorry," the blond interrupted his boyfriend, brushing the topic aside. "I was being stupid." He brought the last pancakes to his seat and sat down next to the brunet. After getting more comfortable in his chair, he reached for the syrup, but Nick was already passing it to him. A smile spread over his face before he quickly leaned over to peck his boyfriend's cheek. "Thanks, love."

"Don't mention it."

"I don't mean just that, but _this_ ," the blond continued, his arms flailing in big circular motions. "All of it, the weekend, you being amazing and everything, really." He poured some syrup onto the pancakes in front of him and immediately started to cut his breakfast into little pieces. His cheeks flushed slightly as he felt Nick's hand move onto his thigh, caressing him with his thumb. He looked over, fork between his lips, and blushed a little more as he recognized the expression in his boyfriend's dark eyes.

"You're welcome, love. Just for the record, though..how thankful are you exactly?" The brunet had turned towards him and now leaned over to kiss Jeff below his ear, slowly moving his hand further up the blond's leg.

"Nick, I'm eating," Jeff said with his mouth half-full. "I need to eat. Please?" he added, his voice not so steady anymore.

"I think that can wait," Nick answered lowly, placing open-mouth kisses onto his boyfriend's neck. "I promise it won't be too exhausting on your poor empty stomach." Jeff let his fork fall onto the counter as Nick's hand palmed him through his shorts. They hadn't bothered to put any pants on this morning, only some t-shirts over the boxers they'd slept in. Jeff was regretting that now. Well, maybe not..

"Nick, I-I ca-.. we shouldn't..," he managed to breathe out, immensely distracted by the brunet's hand and mouth.

"Come on, Jeffie.. It's not like we're going to _do it_ , not after that thing that we pretend doesn't exist, anyway," Nick said between kisses, "Just a little more of this..." At one point he had taken his hand off of the blond and pointed to the trash can, but now he touched him again, performing suggestive hand motions on his thigh.

"Wait.." Before the brunet would take this too far, Jeff swiftly stood up and took a few steps away from his boyfriend. Had he heard that correctly? "You wanted to do it today, before you found the letter? Not even 48 hours ago you basically freaked out at the thought of me trying something. Tell me, Nick, how's that possible?"

"What?"

"You wanted to wait, Nick!"

"I don't.. I mean, I did." Nick was surprised by the sudden change in atmosphere, this was not what he'd been going for at all. "I mean.. I do?" He was confused. "I didn't mean it that way." Why was Jeff so upset? He reconsidered what he had said, but came up rather empty. Was he.. misleading his boyfriend?

"What did you mean then?"

Well, what did he? Nick leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest and a confused look on his face. His boyfriend had moved to the sofa and was abut against its backside, actually half-sitting on it.

"I..," the brunet began, but paused directly after, scrunching his nose in frustration. "I've been thinking. You know what we did in the car.. I really liked that and.. and I felt like it didn't change us, so I.. wanted to return the favor?" He sounded as if he was explaining his behavior more to himself than to his boyfriend, but the blond listened nonetheless. "I would never push you into anything, Jeff, and I know that you wouldn't either.."

Relaxing a little, Jeff pushed himself off the back of the sofa and slowly made his way over to the kitchen counter.

"And the letter, oh my god, I'm so sorry that you saw that, Jeffie.. My uncle's just messing with us. I could never do anything here, considering he pictured us and.. That's just weird. I only meant that as reassurance, I guess... My brain's just not working right with you in the room."

Jeff smiled softly as he sat back next to his boyfriend. "It's okay, Nicky. Seems like we're both a little out of it today." And with that he continued to eat his already sliced up pancake, his free hand finding its way into Nick's, who took it thankfully and intertwined their fingers on top of the blond's knee.

"So," Jeff said in between chews, a smirk sneaking onto the corner of his mouth. "I'm screwing with your brain, huh?"

Nick rolled his eyes and rested his head in his other hand, elbow on top of the counter. "I take it I'm not?" he asked back. "Screwing with yours, I mean."

The blond swallowed and wiped his lips, turning to look into his boyfriend's beautiful warm eyes before he replied. "Have you noticed my behavior lately? I'm going crazy, in case you haven't realized.. All your fault," he shrugged and then picked up some more pancake bits from his plate. "Freaking love," he continued to mutter under his breath, once winking at his boyfriend, who was choked up, eyes wide in amazement and tightening his hold on the blond's hand.

"Really?"

"What?" Jeff swallowed his last bite and shoved the plate a bit away from himself.

"Gosh, Jeff, I love you so much, you wouldn't believe it.. If I could, I would pick you up and carry you to the bed right now.. Or throw you to the floor," Nick blurted out deadpan serious. Now it was the tall boy's turn to look rather dumbstruck before he managed to murmur a reply.

"The floor is j-just fine.."

Nick chuckled and, after bringing their intertwined hands to his mouth, kissed the blond's knuckles softly. "You're adorable."

"Seriously, Nick." Jeff stated, looking straight into the brunet's eyes, and continued by emphatically lending weight to every word. "The floor is just fine.."

It took Nick a moment to process the words, but then he was up in a second, basically yanking his boyfriend off his chair. He let go of Jeff's hand to bring both of his to the blond's face, cupping it and pulling his head down as he crashed their lips together. Jeff gasped, although soon adapting to the sudden force and pressing himself just as hard against his boyfriend as he was pressing up against him.

"Down," Nick commanded lowly as he broke their kiss for air, his arms by now wrapped around the blond's neck.

After a small struggle, they fell to the floor. Nick was on top of his boyfriend, holding himself up with his hands next to either side of Jeff's head as he swung his leg over the blond to straddle him by the hips. He started to trail slightly open-mouth kisses down the tall boy's face, beginning at his cheekbone, brushing along the corner of his parted mouth, wandering along his jaw and eventually settling for his neck. He sucked lightly before he bit down, mumbling muffled words into the sensitive skin along the way. "I love you.. beautiful.. so beautiful.."

Jeff was already panting and had moved one of his hands from the brunet's waist around and behind him. With the other one he got under Nick's tight fitting white V-neck that was so deliciously hugging his wonderful upper body. Gently pressing his palm against the brunet's abs, fingers against his hip bone, Jeff managed to lift the fabric enough to free the tan skin underneath. At one point realizing what his boyfriend was getting at, Nick sat up and swiftly pulled his shirt off completely, leaning back into Jeff's hand.

The blond gave him a playful squeeze, smirking with his lips still slightly parted, and propped himself up on one elbow. He withdrew his hand from Nick, though, to let it glide over his stomach, absentmindedly biting his lower lip at the sight in front of him. Not without a bit of envy, he had his index finger outline his boyfriend's defined muscles. His followed the trail of hair that started out at the brunet's navel and, only as he reached the waistband of those light blue boxers, looked up again. His gaze was met with dark lust blown eyes that had been watching his face this entire time. Nick didn't move, though. He remained stock still in his spot, waiting for Jeff to proceed.

"You..," the blond said after a short while, his voice a little huskier than usual, "are the beautiful one here." He then raised his hand up to Nick's shoulder in one swift movement and pulled him down to connect their lips, bucking his hips up as they met halfway. Nick groaned against him and opened his mouth to let his boyfriend's tongue enter, his body stung back into action. He swayed his hips against Jeff's, eliciting moans from the both of them as they kissed deeply and passionately.

The brunet had started to fumble with the hem of his boyfriend's shirt as his uncle's telephone went off. He froze on top of the blond, who on the other hand had no intention to stop this any time soon by whatever the hell might try to intervene. "Leave it," he breathed against Nick's jaw he had proceeded to work on due to the lack of response he was getting in their kissing. "I'm sure.. it's not.. important," he said between tasting the brunet's skin.

"Yeah, you're probably right..," Nick said after a while when the phone had finally shut up and he decided to try Jeff's shirt again. The blond sat up with Nick still in his lap and let his boyfriend lift the shirt completely off of his body. The brunet tossed the piece of fabric over to the couch and wrapped his arms around Jeff's neck, pausing shortly to look into those big brown eyes that were staring back at him now. He smiled sheepishly and leaned in to kiss Jeff softly on the lips, his physical desire for the blond forgotten for the moment. Well, not completely..

Jeff made a stab at deepening the kiss, but they were once again interrupted by a nearby noise. Only this time, it was the sound of a key in the front door being inserted and turned around.

Nick panicked, to say the least. He jumped off his boyfriend, which on its own was a very difficult task to do, but he managed anyway. He found his shirt and had it halfway on when a middle-aged woman surprised him with a squealing noise. She was standing paralyzed in the open door, bright yellow gloves in one hand, the door knob in the other, and her eyes pressed shut.

"Um.. hello? Who are you?" Jeff had stood up and put his shirt back on as well.

The woman opened her eyes again, but avoided eye contact with the half-dressed teens. "I-I am Mr. Duval's cleaning lady? I'm sorry, I rang, but nobody answered, so I figured he wouldn't be in today. I clean every Sunday. Who are you?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," Nick said quickly. "I didn't know my uncle employed a cleaner. We can leave!" Jeff shot him a glare from the side. "And _where_ are we supposed to go in the meantime?" he whispered into the brunet's ear. Nick looked around rather aimlessly, until eventually his eyes came across the living room window.

"The pool maybe?"

"I'll need about an hour," the lady interjected, apparently having regained her composure, and set her supplies up on the counter.

The boys moved to the bedroom, Jeff being quite happy about the swimming thing, not about the cock-block, though. _What a surprise._ He'd bought new trunks at Polaris and quickly pulled them on, handing Nick another pair of them, only in another color. Fine, judge away.. but Jeff was actually aware that he was a little shop-a-holic.

Out in the hallway on their way down, Nick was the first to talk again. "Well, that sucked."

Jeff only shrugged. "At least we get to use the pool and cool off a bit."

"Do you really believe that I can cool off when you have no shirt on?" He laced his fingers with the blond's, who was grinning back at him. He could already imagine Jeff in the sun, water dripping down his torso...

"I know," the tall boy laughed. "But life's no picnic, Nicky.." The brunet slapped him on the arm as they stood in front of the elevator, playfully falling into Jeff and nestling into him.

"Jerk."

"Love you too."


	12. Wet Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again with the smuttiness...

Footsteps filled the empty hallways, a weak cry echoed through the entire floor. "Wait!" Drowned in laughter, the cry went unheard, apparently, and it was repeated. "Nick, wait!"

Jeff was giggling like a maniac, clutching his stomach that had started to hurt from all the laughing as he stumbled behind his boyfriend through the hall. Nick slowed down and turned around to walk backwards. He was giggling himself as he skipped always a little out of the blond's reach to the apartment. Jeff lost his balance and, bowed forwards, slowed down as well. He let himself fall against a nearby wall, sliding down a bit and shaking with laughter.

Heading back to get his boyfriend, the brunet grinned at the sight in front of him, only to be jumped the instance he arrived. Jeff clung himself to Nick's back, legs wrapped around his waist and arms around his neck and shoulders.

"Gosh, Jeff," the brunet gasped between giggles. "You're heavy, man. Get off me!"

"You calling me fat?" the blond replied in a mock-offended tone, lips brushing against Nick's cheek.

"Of course not," his boyfriend answered quickly, having reached the door and now trying to shake the tall boy off of himself. But no such luck today..

Jeff reached down and slid one hand into the right pocket of Nick's swimming shorts, grabbing the key for the apartment and, with his sudden touch, eliciting a shiver in the brunet. Somehow, they managed to enter by practically falling inside.

As soon as they darkened the door, Nick kicked it shut, panting heavily under his boyfriend's weight, who still had no intention of letting go. He dragged both of them to the sofa and let himself fall backwards onto the seats, burying Jeff, who had another fit of giggles, under his body.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked over his shoulder, feeling the blond's stomach contracting against his back as his hands clung more firmly to the brunet's chest. There, Nick thought, they felt pretty damn good, and he smiled softly.

"I- I- I don't even know-ow," Jeff stuttered laughingly, tears fogging his sight and rolling down his cheeks. "Oh, yes! You! Almost losing your pants in the pool," and he giggled again. Nick rolled his eyes but grinned, blushing hot against his boyfriend's cold and still damp body.

"Okay, I'm leaving." He tried to crawl up, but Jeff tightened his grip with both his legs and arms around the brunet's torso, causing Nick to sigh lowly. "Please, hon, I want to take a shower." He leaned his head back and looked up at his boyfriend from the side, pecking his jaw a few times, kissing away some of the tears. Jeff was pouting adorably, small teardrops glistening in his eyelashes, and he quickly stole a longing kiss from the dark haired boy's lips. That gave him an idea.. and he intensified the kiss briefly before he turned his head a notch to the side.

"Take a hint, Nick," he whispered into his boyfriend's ear, his tongue brushing gently along the shell. Nick looked at him with wide eyes and, grinning eventually, brought one hand up to the blond's to softly pet his fingers.

"You can come too," he finally whispered back.

In no need for a further invitation, Jeff loosened his grip at once and helped his boyfriend to get up from the sofa. Lazily kissing every now and then, they slowly made their way through the bedroom to the shower. Standing in front of it, Nick tried to catch his breath and lowered his mouth to his boyfriend's collarbone, his hands wandering to the waistband of Jeff's shorts and, at a teasingly slow pace, pushing them down.

Jeff had his arms around the brunet's neck and tried to capture his boyfriend's lips in another deep kiss, while he was busy wiggling out of his own pants. However, Nick dodged his attempts and maneuvered them both inside the shower. He wished the ones at Dalton were this nice..

Soon, the blond was being pressed up against the cold tiled wall, Nick's naked body flushed with his, while, under the warm but poor stream of water, the brunet was tenderly working on his neck. And Jeff loved it, oh, he loved it, all right.. An idea began to form in his mind and, as he steadied his foothold, caused his parted lips to twist into a wicked grin, just before he reckoned he might give that one a try.

Innocently enough, Nick had started to rub himself against his boyfriend, moaning lowly into the blond's skin, when suddenly Jeff grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him away slightly to look him in the eyes. Water was dripping down his hair as he spoke, flattening it to his forehead. "Nick," he said under his breath, "I think I want to wait un-until _marriage_." He had a hard time keeping a straight face. He figured that for letting that cleaning bitch interrupt them, Nick deserved this. Also, seeing his boyfriend falter was turning him on, although probably way too much..

The brunet's mouth had fallen open and he briefly looked down their bodies, wet and naked. "What? You're kidding, right? You-?" Jeff spun them around swiftly, cutting Nick off mid-sentence, and, with a dirty smirk on his lips, pressed his boyfriend against the wall. "Totally." Having whispered these words, he attached himself to the brunet's neck, sucking and licking his way down to his collarbone. He believed to hear some insults being muttered into his hair and he grinned a little more, shortly before he began to work on Nick's chest, biting his tender nipples. He slowly sank to his knees, kissing the brunet's delicious abs, and let his hands wander faster than his mouth. They were roaming up his boyfriend's thigh until he wrapped his greedy fingers around Nick's base, finally reaching his one target for the day. The blond immediately started stroking him, pleased with the high-pitched sounds he was able to arouse in the boy he loved.

Nick reached down and grabbed a handful of Jeff's hair, the back of his head leaned against the cold white tiles. Using his other hand, he turned the water down even further before he cupped the blond's face and lovingly caressed his flushed cheek with his thumb. He looked down briefly, seeing Jeff smile up to him just before he lowered his mouth onto him.

Once more, Nick's head fell back as the sensation overwhelmed him and he gasped loudly, inhaling sharply through his teeth while his boyfriend went from kissing and playfully licking his head to swallowing as much of Nick as he managed to. Jeff tried to relax his jaw and by and by set for a steady rhythm with which he moved his mouth around the brunet.

Nick had been moaning before, although he'd tried to keep it low, but now he simply couldn't shut up even if he'd wanted to. And he did not. Want to, that is.. His breathing quickened reasonably, every exhaled breath turning into an _Ah_ of increasing arousal, his eyes squinted shut as he felt heat rising in his stomach. He swayed his hips, he knew he was close and tried to signal Jeff the very same thing, while resting one hand in the crook of his neck.

Jeff picked up on speed, his fingers digging into Nick's hips. As he caressed his boyfriend's beautiful V, he felt a shiver run through the brunet and he understood at once. He didn't pull away though.. At least not right away. Instead, he ran his tongue teasingly up Nick's length, before he released him, only to finish him off by hand. A few strokes and the brunet was over the edge, digging his fingers into the blond's shoulder as he spilled all over Jeff's chest and into the shower. Still down on his knees, the blond couldn't kept his eyes off his boyfriend's face, the expression of pure bliss fascinated him.

Slowly, he got up and softly placed kisses along Nick's jaw, who was now panting heavily against the blond's neck. Wrapping his arms around the tall boy and pulling him closer, Nick came down from his high whilst listening to the low moans that escaped Jeff's mouth since his own hard-on was now rubbing against Nick's stomach.

He grinned, his eyes still blown with lust, and flipped them over. He grabbed Jeff firmly and started to stroke him in a quick steady rhythm, twisting his wrist on the upstroke. His other hand had wandered behind the blond and took a hold of his ass, his fingers running experimentally along his rim. Jeff's reaction was immediate. He bucked his hips up and gasped, grabbing Nick by the back of his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss. He lifted a leg and wrapped it around the brunet to give him better access and Nick slowly moved one finger inside his boyfriend, almost forgetting to keep on stroking.

They broke their kiss and Jeff let his head fall back, hissing as Nick inserted a second finger and stretched him, although soon, he moaned even louder from the unknown pleasure that washed over him. He couldn't stand it any longer and as his boyfriend began to kiss the sensitive skin below his ear, his hand moving fast around his slick hard-on, he climaxed fast and hard, clinging to Nick as if his life depended on it.

Nick removed his fingers, waiting a few moments before he placed a simple sweet kiss on the blond's lips, and turned to browse them both off. Jeff had unwrapped himself from his boyfriend and slid down the wall, knees up to his chin and a hand in his hair. He had trouble catching his breath.

The brunet was already busy with actually washing himself as Jeff got up again. From behind, he hugged the dark haired boy and pecked his shoulder. "Wow," he whispered. "I love you, gorgeous."

Nick turned his head to him, beaming from one ear to the other. "Love you too."


	13. Alone Part 2

Nick woke up in his boyfriend's arms, cuddled up and feeling cozy, although he sensed a slight headache coming up and his hair seemed to be damp. The blond's fingers were softly running through it as Nick snuggled a little closer, his arm wrapped tightly around the tall boy's stomach. He pecked Jeff's skin that smelled strangely lemon-like and creamy. He liked it, though.

Eventually, he broke the comfortable silence between them, after he had rested his head on top of the blond's chest and listened to his heartbeat for a while. "I had a dream about you." He looked briefly down their bodies, they were both only draped in towels. He wondered, if it'd really been a dream..

"What was it about?" Jeff's soft voice sounded from above, quiet words in an even quieter room.

"It was.. a little naughty."

The blond chuckled beneath him. "Then you most definitely have to tell me."

"Well," Nick began, shifting a little until he had his chin propped up on the tall boy's chest to look into his beloved face. "We were in the shower and, well, naked. I was washing you and you.. you went down on me and I.."

"So basically, your dream was a reenactment of what we did earlier?" Jeff interrupted his blushing boyfriend, smirking at the memory of Nick's body pressed against his own.

"That really happened?" The brunet had a rather shocked expression on his face. Really? _How awesome.. and hot and just wow.._

"Um, yes. Why?" Jeff asked, letting his hand fall to the mattress. "You regret it?"

Nick pressed a quick kiss to the lips of his warily looking boyfriend. "Never, my love."

"Then I can assure you that you didn't dream it, babe."

"I thought I did," Nick admitted shyly. "Since you're kind of too good to be true."

"Only kind of?" the blond teased, followed by a slap on his stomach, and he chuckled. "Just kidding, okay, just kidding! Plus, I'm the one constantly asking myself how I got so lucky."

The brunet kissed the skin he'd hit before. "Oh, stop it, you.."

"I can't," Jeff stated matter-of-factly. The change of tone from playful to serious didn't go unnoticed by his boyfriend and he sat up to face the blond properly. Looking straight into his eyes, Nick took his hands and held them tightly in his lap.

"You better mean it," he said. "Because I do."

Jeff's face went blank, his movements reduced to blinking every now and then. He knew Nick would probably ramble now, but, sensing that his boyfriend had to get something off his chest, he let him be rather than interrupt him by saying that, of course, he meant it.

"I do mean it, everything concerning you, I mean it," the brunet continued. "You drive me insane and I love it.. I love you." He was gently rubbing Jeff's knuckled, never breaking eye contact. "I cherish and adore your inner beauty every day, get lost in your natural ravishing looks.." Jeff smiled softly, flattered that Nick saw him like that. His thoughts were quickly disrupted by his boyfriend's ongoing ramble. _So cheesy.._ but he loved him anyway.

"I melt under your gaze, your touch, everything. You may not know it, but your love is to die for.. and I would, I swear, I would, Jeff." By then, tears were filling his eyes, fogging his sight, and Nick didn't even remember how he got there, why he was telling him all this. He just felt like he had to, and actually, he wanted to. Every day for the rest of his life, he wanted to tell him how much he loved him. Jeff deserved it. And Nick didn't deserve him. "I could never lose you." And he began to whisper as he saw that the blond was crying in front of him. "I love you.. with all my heart."

"Gosh, why are you so perfect at this?" Jeff leaped forwards into the brunet's arms and kissed him eagerly. They both fell backwards onto the mattress, Nick being buried under the tall boy's body, their heads almost hitting the foot board. "I love you so much," Jeff murmured in between kisses. "So much. Never leave me! Please, Nick, never.."

The towel that had been sitting loose around his hips was soon completely gone as he moved against his boyfriend's body. He lay naked on top of the brunet, chest to chest, forehead's pressed against each other, and, with his hands resting on Nick, looked deeply into his hazel eyes.

They stayed like this in silence, consumed by the others presence, until Jeff eventually closed his eyes and shifted his head to the crook of his boyfriend's neck, snuggling closer to him just like Nick did it almost every night.

They had a few hours before they would have to get going. Back to Dalton, back to reality. Nick was planning on spending the rest of their time in bed with Jeff, already considering whether he should break his own rule and signal his boyfriend to go for the _left drawer_. He was humming into strains of bright hair that softly brushed against his jaw, soon deciding against it because he wanted this moment to last forever, just the way it was.. And with them, just the way they were.

After a while, Jeff got up and left for the restroom. When he got back, Nick was propped up on his elbows and shamelessly stared at the dancer's body, lit by the warm sunlight coming in through the window. The blond blushed a little under his gaze, but grinned as he recognized the longing look on his boyfriend's face.

"Like what you see?"

"Beautiful, I _love_ what I see," Nick answered, dark eyes wandering up to meet Jeff's, and he followed his boyfriend off the bed.

Jeff grabbed him by his towel, still draped around his hips, and let it fall to the ground. "Me too," he whispered against the Nick's temple before he wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. The brunet parted his lips at once, demanding entrance to the blond's mouth which was granted easily, and they moved their tongues together passionately.

Bodies were pressed against each other, bare skin touching bare skin in return, and Nick was again playing with the idea of reaching for that damn tempting drawer, to let loose, throw his damn stunning boyfriend onto the bed and defile him in any damn way he pleased. _Could any moment be any more perfect than this one?_

However, Jeff withdrew from their embrace before the brunet was able to put anything to action. The blond sighed against his lips. "We should get ready. Dalton's waiting."

_So much for that then.._

In the car, about an hour later, Nick felt the sudden urge to tell Jeff all about his, well, _urges._ As if he hadn't talked enough today.. It was weird. Only two days ago, he had been caught up in his own mind, thinking that his urges might be wrong and ruin their relationship, but now.. He wasn't scared anymore. Everything just felt right and meant to be.. How could that be?

"You know," he began, breaking the silence that had settled between them, while the blond was absentmindedly singing along to the radio. "I almost jumped you when you came back earlier.. It felt so.. and you were.. and I almost did it, Jeff." He grunted in frustration, he had no words to express what he wanted to. _Well, that's just great._

The blond watched him drive for a while before he answered, pondering over what to say. "I know. I would say that it was pretty obvious from the look in your eyes, love. Like you were undressing me with them, although, of course, I wasn't wearing any clothes. So yeah.." The boys laughed, smiling at each other lovingly.

"We'll have our time, Nick, in an environment that's more familiar and more us," Jeff eventually replied in a more serious tone. As he briefly looked out the window, he recognized Westerville countryside. "The day was perfect to me, I wouldn't change it for anything. And I already knew how much you loved me, there was no need for more me to feel any closer to you or for you to prove anything.. You know what I mean?"

Nick glanced over and took a turn into the Dalton parking lots. "I guess.. So it was good that we didn't do it?"

"We'll get another chance," the blond shrugged. "Time and place just wasn't right." Nick cut the engine and sighed lowly. Jeff was right, his hormones almost got him back there. Then, he looked over with a grin on his lips. "Soon?"

Jeff rolled his eyes. _When did his boyfriend become so eager?_ He didn't answer, but instead got out, only to find himself being pressed against the car soon after. Nick ran his fingers along his neck and into his hair. "I'm so gonna have my wicked way with you.."

The tall boy laughed again. "Your _wicked_ way?"

"Well," Nick said softly against the blond's jaw. "I can't guarantee that it'll be wicked right away, but with enough practice, my love, I'm surely gonna rock.. your.. world." He kissed Jeff along his jawline until he reached the corner of his mouth. "And I'm gonna rock it again and again and again and again.."

*

From a window on the second floor someone was watching them fool around outside in the parking lot. "Thad! Thad, look who's back!"


	14. Reoccurring

It was two weeks later and graduation was just around the corner. Well, not for Jeff and Nick, but for some of their friends anyhow. Mainly Wes. Nick didn't know how he would ever survive without his weekly dose of gaveling from the Asian Warbler.. But then again, it wasn't _that_ hard to imagine. Until a certain blond reminded him that the gavel was school property and wouldn't leave anytime soon. And who said that the next head of council would be any less bad.. That certainly didn't help Nick's mood..

"Come on, Nicky. You're just sad that Wes is leaving us."

"I have to get into the council next year! No one shall ever touch that damn thing ever again," Nick mumbled to himself, shivering at the thought of the loud banging noise on the main desk. The boys were whispering in one of their last chemistry lessons, while Jeff was sympathetically rubbing his boyfriend's thigh under the table.

"Let it go. You can make up your mind about that kind of stuff when the time comes."

Nick looked at the blond with furrowed brows. "How could I possibly think about anything else, Jeff? That _thing_ torments me in my dreams!" he snapped, but faltered when he took a closer look at his boyfriend. Jeff eyes were darker now and he held his gaze with growing intensity. His grip had tightened and he proceeded to massage Nick's leg with his thumb. "Jeff?"

"And there I thought that only I was in your dreams," the blond whispered lowly, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. "Relax, Nicky. I'm gonna make you feel better.."

They sat in the back row and Nick nearly fell out of his chair and against the wall when Jeff moved his hand up his thigh and hovered over his crotch.

"Jeff, _honey_!" the brunet hissed. "No, we can't..," he was able to murmur as he checked left and right if someone was aware of them before he let his head fall back. Everybody was busy chatting anyway, while they were originally assigned to work in pairs on some chemicals or whatever. Nick couldn't even remember. Neither did he care.

But then, he _did_ care and it killed him.

There was no way that he would be able to keep quiet and they wouldn't be caught, but also no way that he would push his boyfriend away now. _Well, damn._

However, he didn't have to decide any of that, though. Jeff had already removed his hand and leaned over to whisper directly into his ear: "Later, I _promise.._ " Nick froze when the blond's breath hit his exposed neck just before Jeff pecked his jaw briefly. "It will be worth the wait."

Nick looked over and stared straight into his boyfriend's warm eyes, a questioning expression crossing his face. _Did he mean..? No, it can't be.. Can it?_

_Oh boy._

Jeff turned back around to actually work on their assignment, bored as hell blowing his bright bangs from his eyes. Although he couldn't help but smile at his ability to divert the brunet's attention away from basically anything.. With only one hand!

_Yeah.. because that's something to be proud of, Jeff.._

The blond sighed lowly and was more than happy when the lesson ended a short while later. On his way out, he gently pecked Nick on the cheek and went to his next class that he didn't share with his boyfriend.

For the rest of their afternoon, Nick was positively worked up. He was excited, nervous, flustered.. You name it. Hormones rushing and everything. Today was the day.. maybe. Jeff had not been that explicit, but the possibility was definitely there. Most definitely.. maybe? _Uuuuggghh!_

The brunet got inside their dorm and his boyfriend was already there, although not really waiting or anything. Just sitting there at his desk. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, so maybe it would only come to the usual? Nick was confused. Jeff didn't even acknowledge his presence, so Nick decided to make himself felt. He moved slowly towards the tall figure that was his boyfriend and was about to lean down to kiss his neck when Jeff said something out of thin air. "No funny business today, Nicky."

The brunet froze in his attempt to attach himself to Jeff from behind. "But you said.."

Jeff chuckled a little. "I know. And I'd just love to fool around, but," And he pointed to the papers on his desk. "Last assignment for the year. Can't wait, due day after tomorrow."

Nick groaned into the blond's skin, making him shiver beneath his touch. _Damn._

"Oh, you like that, Jeffie?" He mouthed the words onto his boyfriend's neck, breathing hot against the skin below his ear. He shivered again before he pushed Nick away with one hand. "Homework, Nick. No funny business!"

"Fine." Nick shrugged his blazer off and plunged down onto his bed, not in the mood for homework at all. _That went well..._ He glanced over to the tall figure still sitting cross-legged on his chair, repeatedly blowing his blond fringe out of his eyes. He had the top of his shirt unbuttoned and gotten rid of the tie sometime before Nick had entered the dorm. The brunet licked his lips as Jeff ran one hand absentmindedly along the back of his neck, shifting his collar in the process and accidentally showing off some more of his delicious chest.

The brunet loosened his tie.

 _This.._ was torture.

Slowly, he let his hand wander down his stomach and over his growing bulge, moaning lowly, his eyes never leaving the blond boy. He unbuttoned half of his shirt and his pants, unzipping them before reaching inside with eager fingers. As he couldn't help but stroke himself, he put his unoccupied arm behind his head while his eyes kept checking out his boyfriend.

The blond had been oblivious to all that until from the corner of his eye he registered a steady movement on Nick's bed. He didn't turn, though, but as a few little noises caught his attention he let his gaze flicker from his English assignment over to the right and into his boyfriend's eyes. The brunet was staring at him with his lips slightly parted and Jeff didn't need to check further down the bed to know what was going on. He did so anyway and his eyes went wide in shock, his pen made a loud disrupting sound as it hit the wooden desktop. He didn't move but stared back into his boyfriend's face to hold Nick's gaze, whose orbs were dark and blown with lust.

Nick sensed that the blond's attention lay with him now, so he gave into the urge to squint his eyes shut and cocked his head back into his pillow.

"Nick?" Jeff's voice was horse and shaky.

"Hmm-m?" The response came mixed with another moan.

"God, I hate you so much right now."

Jeff swiftly unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and threw it to the ground before he got up and fell to his knees in front of Nick's bed. The brunet's eyes flew open and he started to watch the tall boy again as Jeff pushed Nick's pants down past his ankles and after that continued to undress him completely. He bit his lip while a heat was rising inside him, burning hot on his cheeks and in his stomach. Jeff's long fingers wrapped themselves around his boyfriend's leaking hard-on and he began to stroke him himself.

" _Oh yes, yes.. Ah.."_

"Psst!" Jeff hushed his boyfriend. They were in the dorm after all. But then again.. _Most of the others have afternoon class.. I guess. Huh, whatever.._ He tried to get to Nick with his mouth, but from his position in front of the bed that proved to be rather difficult.

When Nick saw that Jeff had trouble lowering himself onto him, he got even more excited and scrambled up to a seated position, receiving confused glances from his boyfriend along the way. Soon, he sat on the edge of the mattress, legs on either side of the blond's body, his elbows supporting his weight.

Jeff smirked at the sight before him. "Eager, are we now?" He hovered over Nick's tense stomach and licked his way down to his base.

"Hardly," the brunet murmured between two short breaths. He gasped when his boyfriend ran his tongue up his shaft in a playful manner and he just knew that the blond was grinning against his skin. "Okay, maybe.." he admitted. Of course he was eager. Damn, he was so eager he could hardly contain himself. He moved one hand into Jeff's bright hair and softly brushed his thumb over his temple. He grabbed a handful as the tall boy took him in, all gentleness forgotten. " _God_ , I love your mouth.."

Jeff removed himself from him and jerked him off by hand. "Only my mouth?" he asked teasingly. Nick's head was tilted back, his lips twisted disapprovingly.

"Asshole," he managed to breath out in between moans. As if on cue, the blond had been caressing Nick's thigh with his free hand and was now circling his entrance with one finger. Nick couldn't hold back any longer, it was all way too much and he let his body take over. His hips swayed against the pressure of Jeff's skilled hands, his breathing had quickened reasonably and his body grew hotter by the minute. A sheen covered his tan skin and his grip onto the blond hair tightened.

"Oh God.. Please!" He was begging for release and Jeff granted his wish all too gladly. _Damn irresistible stupid awesome Nick with his stupid awesome hot body.._ His lips barely even touched his boyfriend's tip when the brunet began spurting against him, covering his chin and hand completely. _"Shit, shiit.. Oh God, yes, Jeff, ah yes, yes.."_

"Nick! Psst!"

The brunet had flopped back onto the mattress, an expression of pure bliss on his face. The back of his hand that he had had in Jeff's hair was now resting on his forehead, pushing dark strains of hair into his eyes.

The muffled sounds of a fist banging against the wall and David's raised voice was reaching the boy's now. Something along the lines of "Get a room" or "groom" or "hooker"? Nick laughed as Jeff quickly pulled his boyfriend's boxers back up. "Oops," he chuckled. "Sorry, David!" he yelled at the wall behind them. "Poor boy," he breathed out and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Yeah," Jeff chuckled himself now, although he was clearly blushing. "Probably traumatized for the rest of his life."

Nick sat up and kissed the top of the blond's head. "He's just jealous. He wants this." He petted his boyfriend's cheek gently. "With Wes maybe.."

"Ugh," Jeff grimaced. "Thanks for _that_ mental image!"

The brunet purred into his bright hair, "Love you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The tall boy waved his hand dismissively and got up to go to the bathroom. Nick could hear the faucet running for a while before Jeff came out again, fresh as the morning, and threw a wet washcloth at him, hitting him hard in the stomach.

"Ow, thanks."

Jeff leaned briefly over his boyfriend's body and stole a quick kiss from his lips. He winked. "Love you too."

Meanwhile in the hallway, David had just left his room and ran into Trent who was lingering outside of Dorm 36. Jeff had taped their anniversary date numbers over the original tag. _God, aren't they just the cutest? Teeth-rottingly.._ David groaned under his breath.

"I'd love to say that I'm surprised to see you here," the council member said as he walked by. "But I'm really not."

Trent just shrugged. "I'm bored."

"Voyeur," David muttered and made his way to Warbler's hall. "Get a girlfriend, Trent!" he called back over his shoulder before he took a turn and went down the stairs. His best friend was already there, sitting at the main desk and apparently talking to the love of his Dalton life. "Hey freak," he said and closed the door. Wes let go of the gavel and caught it mid-fall.

"Hey D." He placed the hammer carefully on the desktop. "I'm a ninja!" he grinned at his best mate.

David chuckled. "Freak."

"You love me anyway."

"Unfortunately.."

The room started to fill with other Warblers for one of the last meetings of the year. Blaine was one of the last to enter and, looking rather sad, sat down next to blondie and his puppy. Nick nudged him in the side. "Hey Blaines, what's up?"

The curly haired boy sighed. "Kurt's going to New York soon. I'll miss him."

Kurt had gone back to his old high school weeks ago, they had even visited him on more than one occasion, but Jeff knew exactly what their friend was going through. Well, he could imagine at least. If Nick was not in his life 22/7, he'd fall apart. And yes, he took not less than two hours of No-Nick time per day, mostly via different classes or dance practice, but nonetheless.. The brunet got No-Jeff time, so it was a fair deal. And he could go play his own sports and cheat on Jeff and whatever.. The blond giggled hysterically at the thought. _Wow, our self-esteem is real high today.. He wouldn't leave or cheat on you, you idiot._ Just for good measure, he pulled Nick in by his tie and kissed him deeply until Wes gaveled the meeting to a start.

"What was that for?" Nick whispered with his eyes set on the council desk.

"Dearest Warblers," Wes' voice drowned Jeff's initial response. He had almost answered with _For not cheating_ , but, naturally, he was happy now that he hadn't. "As you know, this year is coming to an end and so is my time at Dalton as well as the time of some fellow Warblers." Jeff leaned a little closer to Nick. "Therefore I invite you all to my house, the weekend after graduation, and it's mandatory for every honorable member of this show choir. So you better all come, you little schmucks!" He laughed and everyone joined in. So much for Dalton etiquette.

The blond finally had a chance to answer. "For you being you," he said cryptically.

Nick furrowed his brows, then shrugged briefly and decided to let it go. Whoever knows what might get into his boyfriend next.. _Oh yes, right.._ Once upon a time that would have been him.. Not physically, of course.. (too bad, though). However, he'd always been the one to know what the blond was up to. But now.. _clueless._

_Must be part of the boyfriend package deal._


	15. Influence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware, some non-con ahead!

A buzzing sound woke Nick from his nap the day of Wes' graduation party. Pondering whether he should ignore the call, he looked at the caller ID and immediately accepted. "Jeff?"

"Nick, thank God!" The blond sounded relieved, but stressed at the same time. How was that possible? "I'm in a major crisis here.. Help me, please! I.. have nothing to wear! "

Nick chuckled and buried his head in his pillow before he answered. "Er.. what about.. your _I'm as sweet as a cupcake_ shirt?"

"Are you kidding me? I only sleep in that one." Jeff gave his phone his best _Bitch, please_ look. Nick couldn't be serious about this.

"You don't like it?" Nick had given it to his boyfriend and well.. it simply stated the truth.

"You know I love it, but it's really not appropriate for a party, Nicky." He sat down in front of his closet and sighed. "It's only for you to see." Jeff smiled and ran his free hand through a stack of jeans that lay before him.

"Okay, I can live with that.. And honey, you have more than enough clothes. At least you're buying enough for the both of us. You should be covered." Nick thought again. „You’ll look hot anyhow," he added after a short silence. He rolled onto his back and rested one hand on his stomach.

"Oh, stop it, you... No, wait! Continue."

"Really?"

"No, but thanks. Now that I think of it I know just what I want.. See you later!" And with that he hung up the phone. Nick's _Later_ and _I love you_ were obviously not needed today. He sighed and, after leaving his phone somewhere between the covers, rolled back onto his stomach to catch another half hour of pre-party sleep.

  
  


*

  
  


The party was already in progress when he arrived sometime later that evening. He had to promise his parents that he wouldn't drink and in return he could stay late and they'd allow Jeff to sleep over. Well, with the door open of course. Nick had rolled his eyes at that rule. Not that the open door thing wasn't working.. Like that Jeff would for sure let exactly nothing happen tonight.

Thinking of his boyfriend, Nick almost drove the wrong route to Wes' house. Jeff was riding with James, while Nick had to pick up Trent. Well, if that wasn't going to be a silent ride without inappropriate questions, then what would?

The streets around Wes' house were packed as was the interior, with Nick knowing maybe half of the people there. He hadn't seen his boyfriend yet, although, judging by his call from earlier, he wouldn't be there for another hour.

He left Trent with a group of Warblers and made his way through the crowd of Dalton seniors and some of their girlfriends as well as other friends of their head council member. He hadn't expected it to be this huge, but apparently this was the party of the year or something.. After entering the living room, Nick briefly hugged Kurt Hello before he continued his quest for a drink. _Ha! Take that, Mom!_

Wow. _Very mature, Nick..You're such a bad boy._

As he broke through the crowd near the bar he was still shaking his head at his own immaturity, when, suddenly being confronted with an unexpected sight, he froze into place.

All he could see was this unbelievably gorgeous backside of one of Wes' friends in front of him. The boy was leaning over and probably grabbing something from under the bar, facing away from the brunet. Nick needed a second before it registered with him that he was checking someone else out other than his boyfriend.. That wasn't right. But _Oh my God_ , that ass..

"Hey Nick!"

Nick almost jumped as a pair of arms wrapped around him. "Good to see you here!" To his relief, it was only Wes, already lit, with his graduation cap sitting lopsided on his head. He followed the brunet's eyes and sighed lowly. "Don't you two ever get enough of each other?" He laughed and went on to greet some redheaded chick that had just come in through the door.

_What was he talking about?_

Just then Nick glanced back to the boy at the bar and had to laugh himself. The boy had drawn himself to his full height and was now grinning at the brunet. He shook his head and his bright blond hair fell out of his perfect face, two beers in hand. Nick went over, grabbed him by the collar and kissed him deeply. "Hey beautiful," he whispered against his lips.

"Hey Nicky," Jeff answered as he handed his boyfriend one of the cups. He put one arm around Nick's neck and pecked his hair briefly. "Crazy party, right?"

"Yeah, and we've only been here for like 15 minutes."

They entered the kitchen together, catching sight of a small group around the counter. "Who wants to play Spin the Bottle?" Some girl was shouting, receiving several cheers and shrieking from her friends.

"Okay, we're not going in here.." Jeff turned around on the spot and led Nick away from the game. Too bad he basically ran into David and his Dare or Dare set up. "Hey, hey Nick!" he called. The brunet grimaced. He hated David's tradition of Dare or Dare. It was obviously a variation of Truth or Dare they all invented during their first Warbler party. David had been so drunk that he ran around daring people for the whole night. By now he had gotten an actual wheel of fortune made of cardboard around his neck. It was the Warblers idea of a birthday present.

The dares on the wheel varied a lot and only a few of them weren't half bad. The rules were always the same though. Dare.. or dare. Or to be more precise: Dare.. or drink. One shot in exchange for the dare you were unfortunate enough to land on.. Nick hated that game.

"Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick... Come here, little moufflon.." The brunet frowned. _What?_ "I only got one question for you, Nicky boy!" Wes was watching them from the side, a beer in one hand, his girlfriend's waist in the other, as the others in the group were already cheering. "Dare.. or dare?" Jeff grinned down at his boyfriend. He was just happy not to be the chosen one this time.. Happened way too often in the past.

"No way, D. I'm driving!"

"Come on, Nicky.. Just one! And I'll let you pass for the evening." He winked at Nick and offered him the wheel. The brunet grunted before, under some more cheering, he set the arrow in motion. _Please no striptease, please no striptease, please no.._ He opened his eyes again as he heard some whistled and stared disbelievingly at the chart. _Body shots._

"Haha, that's awesome!" David was jumping a little and waved for Wes to get the tequila. "Since I'm in a good mood today, little Duval, I'm gonna let you choose the body.. Consider yourself lucky!" He bowed down and whispered halfheartedly into Nick's ear, "It could have been Sarah.. or Trent!" The tall boy chuckled and turned to make room on a table. Nick face palmed himself.. _Freaking Warbler traditions my ass.._ He glanced over to his still amused looking boyfriend and gave him a pleading look. _Save me!_

 _No freaking way._ Jeff raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and giggled, running his hand through his hair repeatedly. He didn't mind Nick doing shots on someone else, it was just a game, although he'd rather have him lick his body, of course.

Nick crossed his arms across his chest and shot the blond a glare. _Oh, bitch, you're on!_ "Well, I choose Jeff then." He smirked as the catcalls grew loud again and had to fight the urge to stick his tongue out at his boyfriend. Thad, standing nearby, rolled his eyes. "BO-RING! Ow.." Trent had nudged him in the arm. "Shut up," he murmured to his friend.

On second thought, Jeff didn't seem to mind this change of plans at all. On the contrary.. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his boyfriend as he slowly unzipped his gray hoodie and let it fall to the floor, revealing a bright turquoise t-shirt underneath. When he walked past Nick he heard him whisper to him. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Jeff lay down on the free space on the table and pulled his shirt up to his chest, curving his back to make his stomach look even flatter than it already was. David placed a lemon slice on his lips and filled his navel with the high-proof alcohol. After strewing a line of salt onto the blond's abs, he stepped aside and, grinning proudly, pushed Nick forwards to see his creation. The Woo-girls in the corner were doing an excellent job at what they were named after, thereby getting highly on Nick's nerves.. He felt his cheeks burn under everyone's gaze.

"Relax, Nicky. It's just a body shot." Jeff had taken the lemon off his mouth to talk to him.

"Hey, hey!" David protested loudly. "Put that back and now get going, Duval! Dare's on!"

Nick rolled his eyes but leaned forward, his mouth hovering over his boyfriend's stomach. Teasingly, he licked the salt off him, making Jeff shiver as he took his time as much as possible. He went further down and drank the tequila, grimacing from the strong taste burning its way down his throat. He rushed up to get the fruit.

After sucking some juice out of the slice, he spat it to the ground and dove in for a passionate kiss with his boyfriend who was still lying on the table. Jeff wrapped his arms around the brunet's neck and pulled him closer before he deepened the kiss, his low moaning being drowned by the loud cheers from their friends.

Soon, everyone was busy otherwise, while Nick and Jeff were busy with themselves. They had moved outside, the brunet's hand keeping Jeff's shirt up while they rested together against the outside wall of Wes' home. Nick felt slightly dizzy, tequila just wasn't for him, he concluded as he chugged the rest of his beer down. Little did he know that some kid he didn't even know was filling everyone's cups with his homemade liquor when they weren't looking...

The tall boy was sucking on the exposed skin below his boyfriend's ear, whispering dirty things to him every now and then. Nick took that as a pass to go further.. "You know, my love, you're _such_ a showoff.." Nick ran his hand along his boyfriend's thigh before pressing his palm against Jeff's behind. "Those jeans.. and the way you arched your back earlier.. Well, damn." Nick eyed the pair of ripped skinny jeans that fit the blond like a glove.. _Super hot._

"Says the one wearing the tightest shirt he owns," Jeff replied lowly. "Making me drool every time I look at you." That was actually true. Nick had grabbed this white long sleeve with some thin dark blue stripes to get to his boyfriend. Let's just say that the shirt was very.. outlining. He had something to show off too, so why not?

The alcohol was clouding his mind and sooner than he even realized he was getting handsy with his boyfriend, touching and pushing him along the wall and into the nearby pool house.

"What are you..? _Oh God.._ " The blond moaned his boyfriend's name as he cupped him through his jeans. Already panting lightly, Jeff came to his mind and tried to push the brunet away. "Okay, that's enough." But Nick wouldn't listen. Instead he came staggering after the blond as he moved away.

"Nick, are you drunk? _Already?_ " Jeff stumbled backwards until he reached the edge of some beach chair. "Nick?" The brunet made a few steps towards his boyfriend and placed his hands on his shoulders, pushing him down with dark eyes, following him right after.

"Nicky, please.. We should get back to the others." A low moan escaped his lips as his boyfriend started to work on his neck, hitting all the right spots.

"I want you, Jeffie," the brunet breathed hot against Jeff's skin. "I want you so bad.. _Now!_ "

"What?" The tall boy struggled against Nick's grip, trying hard to get out from under his boyfriend's body lying heavy on top of him, making him feel uncomfortable.. claustrophobic.

"No, not here, Nick. Not now!"

He let his hand wander along the blond's thigh again and grabbed his ass with more force this time. "Come on, Jeff. I need you," he murmured in between hard kisses onto the blond's jaw. "You want this, you know you want it.. You dress like you want it.." His words came out muffled and slurred.

"Get off me! What's gotten into you?" Nick pressed him hard onto the chair and made an effort to turn him around. Then, finally, Jeff was able to elbow his way out from under his boyfriend, scrambling to his feet in a second. He flattened his shirt and pulled his hoodie closer around himself. "What the hell, Nick?" Jeff was yelling, his eyes wide, tears filling them instantly as he spoke. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

The brunet was still sitting on the beach chair, blinking against the bright neon light.

"I can't believe you just did that.. just tried that.." Tears were streaming down his face, his arms wrapped tightly around his chest, his voice full of disappointment and disgust. He was backing away towards the door now.

"Jeff!" Nick's voice came out small and weak from where he was sitting. "I am.. so sorry.. I don't even know what.. or how.. Please! Don't leave me!" Jeff had reached the door and turned halfway around, his eyes set on the frame.

"How could I not, Nick? How could I trust you?"

Nick got up on his feet and inched towards his boyfriend. "Please, Jeff.." He reached out to make the blond look at him, but the tall boy flinched away.

"Don't touch me."

"Please, listen to me!" The room around him seemed to float, but Nick forced himself to concentrate.

"You're drunk, Nick. Go home or party on or do whatever you want.. I don't care. I'm leaving," he said sadly and slipped through the door before the brunet could grab him.

"Jeff, wait!" Nick followed him outside and ran alongside the pool where others were either drinking and swimming. Or both. He caught up with the tall boy and turned him by his shoulder, begging him with tears filling his eyes, "Please, I'm sorry!" Jeff jerked his arm away and set Nick trembling along the edge of the pool. Seeing his chance to escape, the blond turned around and started towards the house, hearing a loud splashing sound as he got to the terrace door. Briefly, he looked back over his shoulder, tears staining his reddened cheeks, only to see a dark figure in a leather jacket wading through the water.

Recognizing a familiar face in the crowd watching him with a concerned expression, Jeff straightened up, fixed his hair and left the scene behind. "James," he said in the passing by, "Please, get me home, would you?"


	16. Loss

"Wes? Have you seen him?"

"Nickyyy! Come here, mate!" Wes, who had a hard struggle standing straight, embraced a dripping Nick. "Drink with me! Woah.. why are you wet?" He smirked at his Warbler friend. "What did I miss?"

"Fell into the pool, long story. Well, not really, that's it basically. But now's not the time, Wesley, more important things to do.. Did you see Jeff?"

"Blondie? Nah, after that body shot I thought you two lovebirds'd be in the bushes or upstairs or something." He giggled and, with his arm around Nick's neck, led them towards David on the other side of the room. The lights were low and the bass of some dubstep song was blasting through the house. "You lose him?"

"I fear so," Nick mumbled lowly. _But I hope not.._

"Hey D, seen dancerboy anywhere?" Wes called as soon as they were in earshot.

Bright stars started flashing before Nick's eyes; he tried to straighten up, but toppled to the side. Instantly switching to mother hen mode, Wes went after him and caught his arm. "Whoa, Nickster, you okay?" He held the brunet up and supported most of his weight on their way to a chair.

"How much've you had tonight?" David had crossed the distance to his friends, lending the Asian boy a hand with getting Nick to sit down.

The brunet was pinching the bridge of his nose, trying hard to ignore the nauseating pressure in his throat. The cold pool water had cleared his mind for a while, but now he felt sicker the longer he stayed inside of the crowded house. "I had… one shot and one beer.. I think." David brought a cup of water up to his lips. "No, I'm sure." Nick swayed the cup away. "That was it.. Gosh, I think I'm gonna puke.."

"Somebody get a bucket!" Wes yelled over his shoulder to the nearby group of seniors. One of them elbowed another in the ribs, pointing at Nick and winking at his friend, before he went to get one from the under the bar. Wes rolled his eyes. "Stop laughing, Jeremy. It's not funny."

"ONE DOWN!" the redhead called to his friends who all started cheering and laughing hysterically.

"What the..? Again..did I miss something?"

David looked pissed. _"Damn_ _it, Jeremy..,"_ he muttered under his breath and just then, Nick began hurling his guts out. While Wes remained calm as he held his friend up on his seat, David twisted his lips in disgust. He was no one to appreciate vomit.. In fact, solely the sound of it made him gag, actually, even if he felt fine otherwise. He turned his head away as he held Nick's shoulder.

Wes glanced over to his best friend. "How're you holding up over there?"

"I'll live.. But Jeremy won't.. Gosh, I hate it when he does that.." Wes didn't follow. "Have you seen him laughing? I bet he's brought his own liquor.. _again!_ "

The Asian boy shot the redhead a glare from the side, catching sight of something his friend had obviously been referring to. Stupid giggles and _the_ blue shoulder bag with a bottle cap hanging out. "Figures." He sighed. "Every freakin' time."

Nick had his head hanging over the bucket, though he'd been done vomiting. Cold sweat covered his forehead; his mouth was hanging open, saliva covering his lips and chin. He felt awful.

And not only in a physical way.

He'd hurt his boyfriend tonight, their relationship, his trust, and he had to fix that. Although he wasn't so sure, if he actually could. Or if he'd deserve to. Another flood of nausea turned his stomach, so he embraced the smelly bucket again, tears blurring his sight and sticking his lashes together.

"Jeff! Hey bud, where the hell are you? We believe Jeremy did that thing again. You know what. Nick might be roofied or something; call me back!" The brunet looked left over the edge of his bucket and saw Wesley, phone jammed between ear and shoulder as he was still supporting Nick's sorry ass. He tried to protest, but one last final round of puking stopped all his attempts.

"Wow, that there is anything left to come up is kinda amazing.." Wes rolled his eyes at Trent, who had been watching the scene and was now joining them. _It's always good to be the sober one at a Warbler party.. You don't miss one bit of gossip and well.. this stuff._ He grinned to himself before he petted Nick's shoulder. "Poor fella, he should lie down."

"No shit, Sherlock. Have you seen the better half of this guy?" David intervened, happy he could concentrate on something else than the gagging sound next to him. "It'd be best if he could drive him home."

"Jeff? He left a while ago.. With James. He seemed upset, though." Trent scratched the back of his neck. "You think they had a fight? Nick?" His eyes seemed to glisten at the new subject, but he soon furrowed his brows. _Damn, he liked the Niff._

"God, Trent. Off topic!" Wes took the bucket from Nick, who had leaned back in his chair, and went to clean it in the yard with a hose. "Can you bring him home?" David asked their friend. "We both already had too much."

"Yeah, sure. Hand me the keys, Nicky.."

"But.. I have to see Jeff..," the brunet murmured. David supported him as he made an effort to stand up. He and Trent helped him through the house and to his car, still parked outside. They exchanged glances as they maneuvered the brunet into the passenger's seat, ignoring most of Nick's slurry mumbling, which was too muffled for them to understand anyways.

"Why not call him?" Trent asked as soon as he was in the car as well. _Why not Zoidberg?_

"Nah, phone broke. Fell in pool," Nick answered a tad delayed, looking out the window into the darkness surrounding them. Trent started the car. When he turned at the next intersection, Nick had fallen asleep beside him. "What in the name of Shirley Temple happened?"

  
  


*

  
  


The next morning, Jeff lay on his small bed in his parent's house, facing the ceiling of his room. He had one arm over his head, the other rested on his stomach, only halfway covered by his rucked up cupcake shirt. He hadn't even thought about not putting it on, even after last night's events. He blew out a low sigh, making his light bangs fly out of his face, when he heard a knock on his door.

"Jeff, honey? Are you up?"

He sighed again, only louder. "Yes, mom.."

She opened the door and peeked in with a smile on her lips. "There is someone here for you!"

The blond turned away. "I don't want to see him." His mother huffed, opening the door further.

"Well, too bad, honey. I already invited him in and you'll be a good host for your own boyfriend, for Christ's sake, and get dressed! I'll send him up." She slammed the door shut, positively making Jeff jump, and from the noise of it went down the stairs. _What the hell, woman?_ He hadn't told his mother about last night, but of course she knew something was up when he had returned so early from the party. And she was a strict believer in counseling and healthy relationship talk and all that, although her own communication skills mostly based on her getting what she wants or otherwise slamming doors. _Exhibit A._

Foggy headed, Jeff swung his legs over the edge of his mattress and grabbed a sweater from his bed post. He didn't feel like seeing Nick or Nick seeing him.. Anything of him. And then he sat there and waited for the inevitable footsteps in the hall coming nearer. Before he knew it, he felt warm tears streaming down his cheeks as the door opened slowly. He didn't look up. All he saw was a shadow creeping closer and sinking to the ground in front of him.

"I am. So. Sorry." Nick knelt to the blond's feet, silently sobbing with his boyfriend. Jeff turned his head as the brunet warily reached out to touch his leg and pushed his hand away. "No." Nick flinched away and they sat for a while, just crying together, weeping for what they'd lost last night. Slowly, Jeff calmed down and took some deep breaths, taking hold of the brunet's hand. Nick had always been his anchor and he tried to cling to that.

"Please, tell me.. what can I do to fix this?"

Jeff inhaled deeply before answering. "I don't know. Right now, nothing."

Tears filled Nick's eyes again and he hastily turned to face his boyfriend. "Please.." He was begging now. For a second chance. For his life.

"I need time.. to deal. I'm not just gonna let you blindfold me and fall backwards into your arms like in one of those trust issue games.. Like I would have any time before. This is real life, Nick, and as I said.. I need time." Jeff wiped the drying tears from his cheeks.

Nick closed his eyes. "I understand." He did, actually, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. At least it was no kick in the butt and good bye forever. He got up and crossed the room. On his way, he caught a glimpse of himself in Jeff's mirror. An awful looking boy looked back at him. Wild hair, dark circles under his puffy red eyes; his skin gray and sallow, his hoodie fitting him wrong. _That's not me_ , was all he could think. With sad eyes, he looked back to the blond boy on the bed. "That wasn't me," he repeated his thought out loud.

Jeff seemed to have been woken up by this. "And yet, it was," he said sadly.

After Nick had left, Jeff found himself in the same position he had started his morning with, although this time he was fully covered, and his mind revolving around what had and had not been said today. _That's not who we are._

_That's not how we're supposed to be._

"Damn it," he whispered. His lips formed a smirk, his expression otherwise was disappointed and disbelieving. "Worst part.. I still love that idiot."


	17. Decision

Jeff was tapping his feet nervously on the ground. He was so sick of this. Of everything. "Gosh, Trent, you're such a windbag sometimes!" He was so annoyed and hacked off with these phone calls, he got a twitch in his eye every time he heard his ring tone echoing through the house. "No one's sick, no one's dead and I can't get pregnant! Nothing's going on, so leave me alone."

"What, why can't I ask? After all it was me that dragged your boyfriend's wasted ass into his bed and not you! And he's not telling me anything either. And has been ignoring my calls for a week now.."

"I don't even know why I answer my phone anymore.."

"This is a kangaroo court! _You_ stop bullshitting me right now, Jeff Sterling, and tell me what the hell is going on!" Trent was basically shouting into his phone at this point, almost missing out on a faint click. _Oh, you gotta be kidding me!_ Jeff had hung up on him. Not sure what to do now, the brunet Warbler leaned back on his chair and pouted for a while, his arms crossed over his chest, before he decided that he was having none of that. So within the next minutes, Trent found himself in his car and on his way to the Sterling's, determined to get to the bottom of things at hand.

When he finally arrived, Jeff wasn't at home. Mrs. Sterling sent the brunet out to the nearby park, where sure enough the blond was to be found. He was sitting on a dark wooden bench under a huge magnolia tree, head phones in his ears and elbows hanging over the backrest. He rolled his eyes when he spotted Trent approaching him.

"How did you find me?"

"Your mom."

Jeff rolled his eyes again. All he wanted was some peace and quiet to think with no one distracting him and what he did he get? Easily the chattiest person he knew. _Gee.. Thanks, mom._ "What do you want?"

Trent sat down beside him. "Come on, Jeff. You gotta talk to somebody. The others are worrying too, you know.. David, Wes and Thad and James and everyone really." A hurt expression crossed the blond's face and he looked away from his friend. He didn't want anyone to be bothered with his problems. That only made them bother him in return. "It's something between me and Nick, okay? I'm fine, you can leave now and go report to everyone."

Great, how was Trent supposed to get around _that_ defensive wall? "You can talk to me, I won't tell, I promise." Jeff snorted. _Yeah, right.._ "So, what it this about? Is this about.. you know.. s-e-x?" Trent asked, whispering the last part with his hand next to his mouth, so that only the blond could hear him.

Jeff rolled his eyes. _Wow.. For someone_ this _sassy, he really is shy, isn't he?_ He sighed. "Well, kind of."

"And now you two are on a break or something? Is it because he's bad? Do you regret losing _it_ to him?" Trent's imagination went haywire instantly; he was nervously scratching his neck as he examined Jeff's facial expression.

"What? No!" the blond almost shouted at him. He stopped himself, furrowing his brows at his Warbler friend, and gave him a questioning look before he continued. _Seriously? Those are your first questions?_ "I mean, I didn't lose anything to Nick.. except my trust.."

"Figures.." Trent huffed, being his sassy self again. _That's more like it._

"Hey! I was far from innocent.." Jeff interjected, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. _Why again was he telling Trent? Oh, yeah, right! For no freaking reason!_

"Oh, cut the crap, Jeff!"

"Okay, _maybe_ I wasn't that far from innocent before Nick and I engaged.. further into our relationship. So what?! But I technically still am! Innocent, I mean. Kinda." The blond bit his lip. _Great, I'm rambling._ During his relationship with the brunet he had gotten more comfortable with the idea of talking about and doing certain stuff. He was more confident than he'd ever been during their long friendship. But now.. he was feeling awkward and Trent was certainly _not_ helping..

"And there I thought you two were running a porn studio in our dorms. My, my.. how relieved I am now that I know that it was just _almost_ one!" he exclaimed, the last part loud and half laughingly. A young woman gave him a strange glance from the side as she was passing by the bench. "So," he continued, "are you happy that you didn't lose your thingy to him after all?"

Jeff crossed his arms defensively over his chest. „What are you talking about?"

Trent lifted an eyebrow at the blond. _Bitch, please.. You seem to forget who you're talking to.._ He leaned in a little more and asked again in a more serious tone. "Well, are you?"

"No!" _This was getting ridiculous._ "No.. I love him! I would never regret that, except for that one..." Lost in thought, Jeff stopped mid-sentence.

Trent smirked. "Oh, is that so? So, tell me what he's done.. Can't be that bad if you still love him! ?" Hopefully, he could bring his Niff back together. There'd be no fun at Dalton without the duo to tick off and spy on.. Jeff sighed and leaned his head back in resignation, turning his face away from his friend. The bench squeaked as he shifted his weight.

"It's pretty bad."

  
  


*

  
  


"Wow.." Trent had listened to Jeff's pool house story and found himself dumbfounded for the first time in years maybe. He hadn't thought Nick had it in him..

"I know about the spiked stuff, Wes told me, but that still doesn't excuse his lack of self-control or respect for me for that matter." Jeff was barely able to hold back the tears already blurring his eye sight. He drained them with the sleeve of his hoodie and bit his tongue in anger about himself. He'd cried enough the last weeks for a life time and he wasn't planning on doing it anymore. He had to get over this! "But you know what?" The blond blinked a few times and then smiled at the brunet Warbler. "I'm past this! I'm not gonna let this one moment define my life.." He wiped away some tears that were caught in his eyelashes. Trent only looked at him blankly. He was confused.

"But.. that was horrible, Jeff. I mean, from what I gather nothing really happened, but the thought alone.." He shuddered. This was definitely no fantasy of his.

"I know. I was there, stupid." The blond sighed and got up from the bench, stretching his back as he stood in front of Trent. "I'm going over there now. I decided that I won't hide anymore! In my heart I want to give him another chance, but we'll see how I feel when I actually see him." He looked down, finding Trent still looking quite puzzled. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself. And he won't get away with anything, so no worries there either. He'll pay, one way or another."

He smiled at Trent who had gotten up as well. The brunet simply shrugged. "It's your choice."

As Jeff was sitting in his car, he tried to think of something to say. He hadn't seen his boyfriend for too long and he could feel it. He wasn't pleased with his bodily need for Nick, but, undeniably, it was there. It was bugging him; it made him feel powerless. However, he wouldn't let that get in the way of his plan. They would talk, he would get past this (for real this time), Nick would prove himself as worthy of Jeff's love. _That'd be an ideal outcome, I guess.._ The blond was already doubting that anything of that would actually happen.

He parked across from Nick's house and waited inside the car; he felt his determination drain from his body like sand in an hourglass. _Come on, Sterling. Be a man, goddammit!_

Just then, a dark SUV turned the corner and parked in the Duval's driveway. "Oh my God, I can't believe this," Jeff whispered to himself as he spied Nick from a far, getting out of the driver seat. The brunet was in loose gray sweatpants and a black tank top, obviously just coming home from the gym. Until now, the blond had only been able to see his back, but that was already enough to get him all flustered. His boyfriend's body never failed to turn him on, but now was really not the time. _Really_ not the time.

Jeff gulped and, with eyes pressed shut, shook his head a few times. With the notion of _now or never_ on his mind, he finally pushed the door of his car open. He made his way over to the brunet, who was getting his bag from the backseat of his dad's SUV. He hadn't seen him yet.

The tall boy stopped on the grass patch taking up most of the Duval's front yard and without really thinking about it cleared his throat rather awkwardly. Nick froze on the spot. The brunet whipped his head around, disbelievingly looking at his boyfriend. He had to stop himself from running over to him so badly, his muscles were itching from the restriction. "Jeff? What-?"

Jeff's eyes widened. _I can't fucking believe this.._ He bit his lower lip as his eyes met Nick's for the first time in weeks. The brunet obviously hadn't shaved for a few days and Jeff could barely contain himself. _Un-fucking-believable.._ He took a deep breath before he slowly walked over, keeping his eyes away from Nick's face. _Goddammit._ Gone were all his plans and good intentions..

 _Is he going to break up with me?_ Nick was confused. Why was he..?

"I'm here to tell you that I haven't forgiven you.." the blond began, watching the car awkwardly. "However, I came to the conclusion that I need you.. in my life, Nick, so I want to make this work." Jeff let out a long breath as he wrapped his arms around his chest. He flinched when Nick made a move to touch him.

"You have no idea how happy you make me by saying that! I'm so sorry.." Nick withdrew his hand. "Please, look at me, Jeff.."

The blond shook his head. "Can't."

"I know what I did was really really bad," Nick blurted out, again making a move for Jeff. "But you gotta look at me eventually, if you're really giving me this undeserved second chance, I mean.."

"It's not that," the blond interrupted his boyfriend's rambling. "And thanks for not pressuring me, idiot." His eyes left the ground and slowly went up Nick's body, dragging over his exposed collarbones and settling for his outgrown five o'clock shadow. As if under a spell, he reached out and lightly brushed his thumb over the very distracting stubble. He had actually never seen Nick unshaven before. Jeff felt a blush creeping over his cheeks, his eyes briefly flickering to meet Nick's, before he turned his head away again. "It's just.. I can't trust myself around you. I can't trust my body.. right now.."

Nick snorted with laughter. "What?" As he saw Jeff glaring at him, his eyes went wide and he quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, muffling his sudden outburst. _Jeff couldn't be serious._ "Sorry," he mumbled through his fingers.

"You think this is funny, don't you? That you're messing me up? I certainly can't see that yet," Jeff huffed, embarrassed by his own lack of self-control, and dismissively waved his hand in his boyfriend's direction. "Doesn't matter now. Why I'm actually here.. I want to talk." He was shuffling his feet in the grass, looking anywhere but the brunet as he continued. "I always felt safe with you, Nick, and now I've lost that. But that doesn't mean I am willing to lose you too."

"You will never lose me, Jeffie. Rather the other way around.. which I actually almost made happen already.." He was trailing off, the cold evening air sending a shiver down his spine. Now it was his turn to look to the ground. "Do you.. want to come in maybe?"

The blond bit his lip again. _Should I?_


	18. Goofy

It's been over a month since school had ended and Jeff and Nick were on speaking terms again. Yay for that.. But it's been hard for both of them, though they managed to get through their dark patch without a lot of scars. They were certainly there and still healing, though. Jeff did not go inside with Nick that day he told him about his decision, but had allowed him to visit on that same evening instead.

Over the course of the following weeks they went back to being best friends rather than boyfriend and boyfriend. They didn't touch much; Nick had been way too cautious to let that happen. Since Jeff was fresh out of his timid fawn phase, he still relapsed sometimes, flinching when the brunet got too close; so Nick kept waiting for the blond to come to him.

It was almost time for the Duval's annual vacation to Disneyland which Nick did not really look forward to, contrary to his little sister, so he didn't complain. He was getting anxious about leaving. He and Jeff were still together (kind of) and hanging out all the time, so of course it hurt him that their relationship was taking steps only in the right-ish direction, away from its actual destination. Last stop: Friend zone instead of Love of my Life. With his legs cocked, he lay on his back on the blond's bed one rainy afternoon, head about to hang down from the edge of the mattress, and sighed. He wanted to fight for Jeff so badly, but he was too afraid to make any moves on his own accord.

The tall boy sat on the opposite end of the bed, munching on a Hershey's bar as he was reading a comic book. His bright bangs were falling lightly into his eyes and he shook his head every now and then when they were annoying him too much. Nick tilted his head to watch his boyfriend, trying not to be too obvious about it. A smile crossed his face when Jeff chuckled at something from the comic.

"I have the weird feeling that somebody is watching me," the blond said suddenly, looking up from his reading.

Nick blinked a few times, but did not change his position. "Sorry."

"So, what is it? Do I have chocolate on my face?" Jeff asked curiously, self-consciously running the back of his hand over the corners of his mouth.

Without thinking really, Nick shook his head 'no' and briefly forgot all his worries. "You are beautiful," he said bluntly, stating the obvious; to him, anyway. Biting his lip, he remained frozen in place and questioned his sanity. _What made you say that, stupid?_ Carefully, he tried to analyze the blond's facial expression as Jeff was blushing furiously, turning his head away to avoid Nick's eyes.

"I-," he began uneasily. Nick intervened quickly after pushing himself up on his elbows, "You don't have to say anything. Just wanted to let you know."

With sad eyes, Jeff shuffled uncomfortably around on his knees. "Nick.." Why had he thought that spending time with the brunet would help? "You can't just say something like that."

"I used to; and I'm just stating the truth." _Don't push it, Nick.._ "Do you.. want me to leave?"

"That might be better.."

"Really?" Nick asked disbelievingly. _Like, really?_ "You can't be serious! I thought you wanted me here," he added feebly. He flopped back down and gazed at the ceiling; the back of his right hand rested on his forehead.

"I do, you're still my boyfriend," Jeff's voice was merely a whisper in the silent room. "I need you."

"I certainly don't feel like that right now," Nick said lamely. Everything felt distant, even if sort of best friend-ishly. Certainly not what he wanted it to feel like anyway. With his thumb, he wiped a small tear from the inner corner of his eye, otherwise remaining still since he felt the blond stir on the mattress. It was most likely too much to ask, he pondered, but he wanted all of Jeff and be able to give him everything in return.. Well, he wanted that _back_.

_Man, I really fucked things up.._

"Nick?" Feathery, hesitant fingers brushed over the brunet's arm and made him glance to his left. Yep, that was his boyfriend actually touching him. "You still want to be my boyfriend, don't you?"

Nick sighed lowly. "I love you, Jeff," he replied as he ran his hand through his dark messy hair. "I told you before how much I do.. That hasn't changed."

"I want to show you that I do too, but it's so difficult.. How can I trust you again?"

Nick didn't answer. It had no use to promise and pledge and swear that he would never hurt the blond ever again.. He would have done that before Wes' party and he still hurt his boyfriend that night. What was his word to Jeff anymore? It was up to the blond to find it in his heart to trust Nick again.

Instead, he smiled sadly. "You could kiss me, like a peck or something. That'd be more than enough.."

Jeff withdrew his hand from Nick's arm and, forming a loose fist in front of his mouth, seemed to consider it. Silently, he shook his head. "I will kiss you when I feel like kissing you."

"You don't feel like kissing me anymore? At all? Wow.." At this point, Nick didn't know if he should burst out laughing or crying. Jeff didn't reply; he felt dumbstruck by the subtext of his own words. _I didn't mean it like that.. Did I?_ Nick already readied himself for the inevitable devastating blow that was about to hit him. The confirmation, that he did not attract his boyfriend anymore. That they were basically over..

"I-," the blond began, but before he could really answer he got interrupted by a low buzzing sound, followed by Taylor Swift's voice, emphatically singing from Jeff's pocket that they would _never ever ever be getting back together.._

"Why is that your ring tone again?" Nick uttered under his breath as he watched the tall boy jump off his bed, vainly trying to get rid of Trent on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, whatever, Trent.." When he flipped his phone back shut, Jeff let his gaze wander over to the brunet, sprawled out across his bed. He took a deep breath and crawled back on top of the mattress and let himself fall backwards so that he lay arm to arm with his boyfriend, startling him in the process. "I'm not going to do it," he said calmly as Nick gave him a questioning look, but the blond only took his hand and laced their fingers together. Talk about mixed signals.

"It's okay. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything."

Jeff still felt a little tense at that much body contact, though as long as he didn't go all teenager on Nick, he figured he'd be fine. So instead, he let out a small sigh. This current state of mind of either wanting to ravish the brunet or push him away as far as possible was just plain exhausting. The tall boy tried to relax into the well-known scent and warmth embracing him from the right, while Nick was gently brushing his thumb over Jeff's.

 _This is okay_ , the blond thought. _Not too much, I can do this.. It's nice._

After a while, Nick felt a little braver and brought their hands to his mouth, pecking Jeff's knuckles softly, before going back to their former position.

 _Still not too much.. Still nice.._ Jeff smiled. He looked to his right at the brunet's profile; Nick had his eyes closed, enabling the blond to examine his figure more closely without being caught. His boyfriend seemed to make sure that he was always clean shaven as well as fully covered with some baggy clothes when they were together during these last weeks. Jeff appreciated that a lot. It made him more comfortable.

This was a step forward, right? he pondered, listening to Nick's quiet breathing. Maybe this whole 'spending time together' was the right thing after all.

"You know," the brunet said after a while, "we're leaving Sunday morning.. Will you come see me off?"

"Disneyland?"

"Yep, Disneyland.."

"Some things never change," Jeff chuckled, holding Nick's hand a little tighter.

"You'll come then?" the brunet asked again, his dark eyes glistening as he turned to look at the blond. _So, there was hope for them.. Or at least their traditions._ When he took a closer look at his boyfriend, though, he frowned. Jeff had a dirty smirk on his lips.

"You'd like that, huh?"

Nick nudged him with his elbow. "You don't have to, I can always ask Trent. I'm sure he'd love to hear from me.."

"You sure, _you_ want to hear from him?"

"Good point.. Okay, scratch all that!" Once more, the brunet nudged the tall boy lightly, though with his hips this time. "We'll be gone by 8, by the way."

"Oh, come on, dude!" Jeff groaned, sounding way unenthusiastic. "Eight? On a Sunday?"

Nick grinned, facing the ceiling again, and squeezed the blond's hand. "But you'll be there anyway, right?"

"Urrggh," Jeff groaned again, rolling his eyes. "Of course."

His attitude towards the time didn't change much during the next few days. Anyway.. Sure enough, Sunday morning 7:30am sharp, Jeff sat in his car, ready to hit the road. Almost.. He felt absolutely under-caffeinated for this. And surprisingly, way too emotional. The thought of Nick leaving tore an even bigger hole in his chest than everything he'd been through this last month.

He sighed as he stepped out of his car and over towards the busy family loading the van. With his arms behind his back, the tall boy just stood there, greeting everyone while staring at the ground as the Duvals got into the car. Nick stayed behind, about to hug his boyfriend goodbye, when the blond put his hands onto his shoulders, stopping him in his attempt. "Too much?" Nick asked warily.

"Actually.. Not enough."

Before Nick became really aware of what was happening, Jeff was already carefully leaning into him, stopping as their noses touched lightly. He seemed to check whether this was okay this far. Then, with a content sigh, he closed the gap between them and gently brushed his lips against Nick's.

Instinctively, the brunet put his hands on Jeff's hips and closed his eyes, waking from his shocked-like state, and smiled into the kiss. The tall boy felt his boyfriend's lips burning against his own; his skin was tingling all over and his body relaxed easily into the embrace. It was like something within him had sparked and finally caught fire again.

Quickly, bringing his hands up into Nick's dark hair, he pressed himself more firmly against his boyfriend and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. He had been craving this so much, it made him feel almost bad..

Nick was the first to break the kiss, as much as he hated to do it, but his family was waiting. He rested his forehead against Jeff's and gave him a small Eskimo kiss, just when his father decided it was time to honk at the hornies. "COMING!" Nick yelled over his shoulder, "See you in a week," he whispered happily when he turned around one last time. "I'll miss you." Unwillingly, he let go and, after squeezing the blond's hand one last time, got into the car.

Jeff kept standing in their front yard and waved goodbye. "Me too."

He started chuckling as soon as they were out of sight. _Freaking Disneyland.._ On his way to the car, he took his phone out, typing away carelessly, always a smile on his lips.

**Tell Goofy I said Hi. -J**

_**You** _ **'re goofy! -N**

**Oh, shut up! x**


	19. Loneliness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some smuuut :)

Ten days.

It was only ten stupid days, but _oh, the agony_.. In the beginning was the Word, the Thought, the Power; No, the Deed! Nope, it was actually Doctor Faust rambling inside Jeff's head as he was impatiently scrubbing his bathroom floor.. The blond tried keeping himself busy by working with his mom around the house from the first day on. It was either that or being alone with nothing to do but _thinking,_ and no one wanted that now, did they? Ultimately however, there was only so much cleaning to be done, so that every evening the blond saw himself faced with the same problem. It was only him and his boredom sharing a bed, while tiny dusk flakes danced their way through the harsh light of his bedside lamp. They kept him company during these hours of loneliness which he tried desperately not to fill with thoughts of a certain brunet and his broad shoulders.

To put it plainly and simply, it frickin' sucked.

 _Oh_ , it was hard. Unfortunately, life was not the only thing being so, which didn't really help Jeff with the empty feeling inside.

On the fourth day he was so frustrated, he couldn't handle the pressure any longer. He was done staring, done sighing and doing nothing but doodling onto his arm for the day, so, when he was standing in his shower that night, he actually dared to take small steps back to his former life as a teenage boy. To be precise, Jeff finally gave into his cravings and started to work on his body to release some of the pent-up tension. The shower gel felt too good on his body; the warm water running down his long figure dripping from his hair and over his chest was enough to stop Jeff from fighting his urges, he just couldn't stop himself..

With one hand he held himself up, while the other one went straight to business. Stroking himself, his breathing turned into panting; he tried very hard not to think of the good times he'd had in a similar surrounding, which seemed like forever ago. Frustrated with himself, he grimaced under the pouring stream of water, ultimately failing at keeping Nick from his mind. He groaned in defeat, recalling the outlines of his boyfriend's build as he increased his speed. He just wanted to get this over with.

_Such a romantic.._

The next night he was lying in bed and busy shooting some mad birds through space, trying to forget the great orgasm he'd had the day before and desperately fighting the urge to repeat, when Nick started texting him. It began innocently enough, but when the brunet asked him what he'd been up to, Jeff didn't see the sense in lying, feeling both blunt and bold so far away from his boyfriend.

 **Nothing special really..** , he texted back. **Except last night.**

He waited a moment and then sent the next part. **Totally masturbated while thinking of you.**

The blond couldn't suppress his grin, he'd loved to see the look on Nick's face right now. He continued, **Accidentally actually, but yeah. That happened.** And then he waited.

It took Nick a few moments to comprehend what he was reading there, his face lighting up in a bright red. He scrambled to his feet in his hotel room and quickly went to close and lock the door. He lay down on his king size bed and wrote back, a nervous grin on his lips.

 **Accidentally?** he answered, immediately regretting his choice. Way to go for the unimportant part of the message. **Scratch that, I don't wanna know** , he typed out, adding a **Me 2, btw.** Now it was getting awkward. Nick felt like he was really bad at this and his face lit up even more. **Thinking of you, not myself, of course.**

**You did? I can't believe you just told me that...**

Nick scrunched his face up, Jeff was really confusing him. **You told me 2?** he replied quickly.

 **I guess you're right...** the blond texted back, grinning even broader. Teasing his boyfriend was fun. He had forgotten how much fun, actually.. **Was it good?**

 _Wow.. that's an unexpected turn of events.._ **Could've been better.** Nick saw an opportunity to make this less awkward and took a chance on Jeff, hoping that he got the right vibe.. **If my awesome hot boyfriend'd been around, I mean. But it usually is pretty great, just because he is on my mind** , he sent before he might change his mind.

Jeff shuffled down, resting his head on his pillow, feeling antsy. He bit his lip as he typed his next reply. **Tell me about it**

 _I can't believe I'm doing this right now,_ once again the brunet blushed heavily as he started typing. **I was alone in our hotel room and felt lonely..** He stopped for a moment, thinking about the afternoon when his parents had been out with his sister to see one of the main parades. **I kept thinking how beautiful and hot and gorgeous he is and about that one time he was on top..** _No need to tell everything, just enough to get him going..._

Jeff clearly disagreed. His body was aching from both desire and anticipation. Heat started to burn on his cheeks and the blond felt shivers running down his spine as he let his right hand wander over his stomach and underneath the waistband of his sweatpants. It got him going, alright, but it wasn't enough. _Always not enough.._ With his free hand he swiftly typed one last text before he began touching himself thoroughly.

**Call me**

Nick coughed nervously, having a very distinct idea of where this was heading, and he was absolutely jittery from his excitement. Jeff was making a move. An actual move! Well, their kiss had been his move as well, but, like, _again_! He did it _again_!

Nick felt his jeans tighten as he lay sprawled out on the hotel mattress, dialing his boyfriend's number. He definitely did not want to go for the cliché approach by asking Jeff what he was wearing or something, even if it interested him.. He wanted a subtler approach. However, when he heard the click of the blond picking up, his mind went absolutely blank. _Wow, smooth, brain..._

"Hi," Jeff said, his voice raspy and dark. He was already in the middle of _things_.. "Are you alone?"

Nick almost choked on his own tongue when he heard _that_ voice. It was Jeff's seductive teasing sex voice. _Oh boy. We're really going there.._

Through his phone, the blond heard his boyfriend's breath hitch, took that as a yes and figured he would have to take the initiative.. "Remember that one time at your house?" he asked lowly. "When I tried that new thing?"

"The one wi-with your tongue?" _Goddammit Duval, be a man and stop stuttering like a preschooler_.

"Yes.." Jeff's breathing was already shallow, Nick could hear that much. He undid the buttons of his jeans and reached inside. He had tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder to have his hands free to get working. He was so hard, it almost hurt..

"That was so hot," he answered, doing his first stroke and letting out a long breath.

"And that other time, in your car in the parking lot?"

"Oh, I remember," Nick said with a dark chuckle. He remembered all too well.. "I wanted you so bad that day, you with your damn skinny jeans, making me drool all over the place. You should burn all your other stuff and only wear these for the rest of your life."

"Maybe I will.. But only if you stop wearing shirts at all." Jeff was panting, trying hard to focus and keep on talking at least halfway coherently. "I'd touch your arms all day and your back.. I'd kiss every inch of skin of your gorgeous back.. And suck on your collarbones until you cum just from that.."

Hearing his boyfriend's struggled moans through the phone, the brunet pressed his eyes shut and didn't answer for a while, lost in the sensation of his hand on himself. The friction was starting to hurt, so, with a low sigh and his pants halfway down, he hopped off the bed to get some sample lotion from the bathroom. In the meantime, he tried to cover the pause with some more talking. "I'd really like that.. I miss your tongue on my body, _so much_.."

Jeff moaned audibly. "How much? Tell me what you'd do for that right now!"

Nick was back on the mattress and sighed into the heaven that was that cool slick feeling on his throbbing length. "I'd caress your legs and your ass with my mouth.. So hot..and tight.." By then, heat waves were flashing through his body, down his spine and his leg, and he bit his lower lip so hard it tasted of blood. "And I'd suck you off with those jeans still on, let you mouth-fuck me until you almost pass out.."

"Next time I see you," Jeff groaned into the phone, almost ready to let go, "I will press you into the ground and fuck you like you deserve it." His breathing came quicker and quicker, "You won't walk for a week.." Those were his last coherent words, both pretty bold and explicit for someone innocent. _Technically.._ Jeff's stomach tightened and, under vigorous moaning and cursing, he lost it completely, his orgasm ripping through him like fire.

Nick's eyes flew open. They were dark and fully dilated; he smirked at the sound of his boyfriend reaching his high on the other end of the line. He shivered, fastening his pace to Jeff's ecstatic panting echoing in his ear. He flicked his thumb a few times over his head and hissed and groaned loudly when he climaxed into his hand, always the blond on his mind.

Jeff was in the process of calming down, but Nick made his body temperature hitch with his little pleased noises. "God, yes, baby.. Cum for me," left the blond's mouth before he could control himself. He face palmed himself when he heard a chuckle coming from his phone, glad Nick couldn't see the deep blush that stained his cheeks.

The brunet took his phone back into his clean hand, wiping the other with a spare tissue. He then flopped back into his pillow and sighed happily, still chuckling at Jeff's rare _verbalized_ outburst of emotions. "Wow," he said lowly, still panting slightly. "I love it when you talk dirty, Blair."

"Oh, shut up," Jeff uttered, laughing himself now. This was too funny, really. What they'd just done seemed surreal, American Pie-surreal, and super inappropriate. So he just lay there, cracking up together with his boyfriend until tears ran down his cheeks.

Rolling around on his mattress, Nick had to wipe his eyes as well and hold his contracting stomach; it hurt from all that stupid laughing. "Oh dear.." he said, grinning from ear to ear, being the first to break the silence that followed their sudden outbursts.

"I know, right?" the blond answered and got up to wash himself and change his pants. _Gro-oss._

Nick felt his loneliness lurking around and back into the back of his mind. He kicked his jeans and t-shirt off and cuddled under the covers only dressed in boxers. "Please, don't hang up," he muttered into the phone. "Not immediately."

Jeff stopped jumping into new boxers, which _to be honest_ was quite difficult with just one hand, and self-consciously looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. "Okay," he mumbled back, "I won't."

"So," the brunet began, "Anything else you've been up to that you wanna tell me about?"

"Not really, but there's this really cute guy that just moved in down the street. I was thinking, I should introduce myself." Jeff, back in bed, hugged his pillow tightly, halfway hiding his smirk from the world. It took a while for Nick to respond; maybe this had been a bad idea, with Nick being all needy and all just five minutes ago. Jeff bit his lower lip in anticipation.

"Go do that, but I'll come embarrass you as soon as I'm back. So, be warned."

"How so?" The blond shuffled onto his side, pulling the covers tightly around his body.

Nick smiled mischievously and, as if on cue, started to warble into his phone: "Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but he's my boyfriend, so hands off, maybe?"

 _Wow, beautiful, yet absolutely annoying.._ The tall boy was cracking up again. "You wouldn't!" _Would he?_ His face froze in mock-terror, one hand held over his heart before waving it off. "Meh, he isn't that cute anyway."

"Good, 'cause I wanted to ask you something. You see, David told me about this End of Summer party.."

"It's not end of summer.."

"But it will be!" Nick was getting excited. True, it was a few weeks until then, but he still wanted to go really badly. "It's a costume party. So, I wanted to ask you if you would go with me?"

 _Costumes?_ Jeff's heart nearly skipped a beat as he leaped up. "As your date?" His free hand took hold of the sheets. He squealed when the brunet mumbled his confirmations. "That's so sweet! Sure, I'll go with you." Dress-up was, like, his favorite thing in the world. Well, top five.

"Great!" Nick downed his boyfriend's squealing on the other end of the line, almost squealing himself. "I already have an idea for our costumes, since you have blond hair and I have dark hair.."

Jeff gave his phone a look like _Bitch, please,_ interrupting him right there. "We are not going as Harry freaking Potter and Draco Malfoy again! Any other suggestions?" He could hear Nick whining through his phone.

"But why? It'd be perfect!"

Jeff sighed. _No, it wouldn't.._ "I don't like Draco, surely there are better options than that?"

Nick pouted at not getting the reaction he wanted and huffed, "He's tall, he's blond, what's not to like?" Still no reaction, so he tried to argue from another angle. "I ship it."

Now it was the blond's turn to huff. "You ship yourself with sour cream. What you ship doesn't count."

That was Nick's next cue. "I ship Niff," he said triumphantly.

"Still not doing it." Jeff answered; with a smile, though. The brunet was being cute with him, but he was no way in hell dressing up like Malfoy again. "And by the way, just because you're short doesn't make you the perfect Harry either," he teased.

"Hey! I'm not that short."

"Maybe not Anderson-short, but short nonetheless.."

"Well, not everyone can be blessed with such good looks like yourself, you know." The brunet was pouting again. It was no fun being teased like that by your own boyfriend. And he was _not_ that much shorter than Jeff, he told himself in his mind. _Speaking of.._ "Jeff?" The blond hadn't said anything in a while.

"I'm listening. Still waiting for the other suggestions, by the way."

Nick chuckled. _Blond smart ass.. Always fishing for compliments.._ " Okay, fine.. Well, _beautiful_ , from the top of my head, I got nothing."

The dancer glanced around in his room, looking for any kind of inspiration. When his eyes landed on a poster across from his bed, he bit his lower lip, not sure if that was a little too much touching Nick's sore spot. _Meh_ , he shrugged. _I pushed a whole lot of his_ other spots _, he can take it._ "Hm," he began and, although Nick wasn't able to see that, he put his index finger over his lips as if pondering. "What about Legolas and Frodo?" Jeff smirked happily, biting his lip again while clearly picturing the frown forming on his boyfriend's forehead.

"Are you kidding me? Then you better ask Blaine to come with you," Nick snapped. With his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, he added a little sheepishly, "I'm not that short.."

"Geez, I was joking. No need to throw a fit." _Great, way to make me feel bad, Nicky.._ He sighed defensively. "I wouldn't have you any differently and you know that. I like you a lot just the way you are."

"You _like_ me a lot?"

"Don't push it, Nick."

"Alright, alright.." The brunet looked a lot happier when he rolled over to his other side, watching the night sky through the curtains hanging inches ajar. He was able to hear footsteps outside of his room, running down the hall, and someone calling for someone else. _Trish or Ted, maybe?_ "How about Ted and the slutty pumpkin?" he said suddenly.

Jeff scrunched his nose. "You want to put me in a dress?" He sighed again. Too much sighing for one day, really.. "You watch too much TV, seriously."

"Actually, I want to put you in something see-through," the brunet's dark eyes just got a little darker, "but I figured you'd rather look less fruity?"

"Because showing up with my boyfriend is in itself less gay?" the blond sneered, shutting his boyfriend up for good. _Idiot._ "I think I found my costume then." _See-through it is._ That should be fun!

"You're not really gonna wear some dress?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself," Jeff replied with a yawn. "And get your own idea, this couple dress-up thing doesn't really work for us, don't you think?" Nick was confused. They always dressed up together, they'd done so since the dawn of time. Before he could think of a response, Jeff seemed to try to fob him off: "Well, I need my beauty sleep now. Mom wants me to weed the garden tomorrow morning. "

"Okay," the brunet managed, "Have fun." He shuffled under the covers, pondering if his goodbye should be a little more boyfriendesque. Smiling, he went for _appropriate._ "Goofy'll serve me breakfast while you're getting dirty; just so you know."

"Just so _you_ know, no more over the phone funny business for you, Mister," the blond responded quickly, "I'll see you when you're back!" And with that and a huge grin on his lips, he hung up the phone.

A little baffled, Nick looked down at his cell. _Huh.._

_Touché._


	20. Attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah.. more of that.

It was early in the evening and, out in the garden, Jeff was lying in the big hammock, enjoying the last sun rays shining through the trees surrounding their backyard. Done with the housework for the day, although there was really nothing left to be done anyhow, he had tried not to be all stalker-ish on the internet and therefore decided to enjoy nature. As in: read outside and sunbathe. He had brought his Warbler Melba, absentmindedly singing little harmonies with her while she was flapping her wings in the evening breeze.

Halfway through his comic he found his mind drifting off. Abandoned, the book fell to the ground while the blond closed his eyes and settled back for a little daydreaming, listening to the chirps coming from his left. He almost fell out of the hammock when all of a sudden someone whispered into his ear. "Hey beach boy.."

Startled, he looked up. "Geez, Nick, you scared me half to death!"

Nick chuckled lowly. _He's so cute.._ "Sorry.. Can I join in?" He waved in the general direction of his boyfriend. Jeff simply moved aside, clinging to the fabric as if his life depended on it since Nick made them almost fall out again. With a content sigh, the brunet put one hand behind his head and grabbed Jeff's with the other immediately. Glancing over, he admired his boyfriend's exposed upper body. "When did you get so tanned?"

"It's the work outside."

"Looks nice.. Beach boy."

Jeff laughed and nudged the brunet's side. "And what do you call _this_? Hobo-chic?"

"Ruude!" His boyfriend had a point, though. Nick was in possibly his oldest pair of jeans and a scruffy gray T-shirt. He'd just come back from California and felt the need for something comfy; hence this outfit and the trip to the Sterling's house. He rolled over to look into Jeff's eyes; they were so close he could count the tiny flecks of green in them, if he just stared long enough. "I missed you."

"Did you now?" The blond smirked, tilting his head ever so slightly to peck the corner of his boyfriend's mouth. "I missed you too." As he leaned back again, the brunet followed him and placed a proper kiss onto his lips. He lingered there until Jeff gave in and kissed him back, meanwhile letting go of Nick's hand and bringing his own up to the nape of his neck. He lightly grabbed some of his dark locks, humming as he felt his boyfriend's tongue ask for entrance, which he granted shortly. When he broke the kiss, Jeff opened his eyes only to find the brunet's longingly watching him. A little breathless, he withdrew his hand. "Let's go inside."

After trying hard to place Melba quietly back in the living room, the boys tiptoed through the house and to the staircase. Once inside Jeff's room, Nick couldn't hold back anymore and pressed his boyfriend against the closed door. His fingers were roaming all over his torso, then a little lower.. "I've missed you so much.." He played with the dark blond hair beneath Jeff's navel, successfully eliciting a shiver from the blond who needily pulled him closer to crash their lips together.

Nick kept threading his fingers through the hair, with the tips lightly brushing over the tanned skin while Jeff was clinging to his back, digging his nails into the brunet. He moved his mouth and hungrily started to trail kisses along the blond's jaw and neck before he palmed his boyfriend through his shorts. Jeff struggled to keep quiet, strangled breaths leaving him as his body heat kept rising. _Oh, this was bad.. but it was also so good.._ The blond moved his hips eagerly against Nick's hand, spreading his legs further for him to get a better angle. "I.. I.."

"Boys?" The sound of Mrs. Sterling's voice rang faintly from the ground-floor.

" _Oh shit.._ " Jeff pushed Nick aside and tried to catch his breath before he opened the door to call back. "Yes, Mom?" The brunet groaned and let himself fall onto his boyfriend's bed, his pants awfully tight.

"Can you go to the store for me? I need some more things for dinner!" Jeff looked back to Nick on his bed, then down his body. _Well, we can't go down like this.._ "Yeah, I need to change first, okay? Make a list!" He closed the door and quickly went over to the bed where he then straddled his boyfriend. Leaning down and with one hand under Nick's shirt, he whispered, "Cold shower or something quick?"

The surprised look on the brunet's face faded into a suggestive smirk. "Well, what do you think?"

  


*

  


Nick was in trouble. Not real trouble, but gay boy "I have nothing to wear" trouble. It was almost a month after he'd come back from Disneyland, which meant less than a week until that costume party, and Jeff still insisted on going separately. He also would not hint at his costume at all.. Nick was screwed. His level of desperateness on a scale of one to ten? 36.

So, who do you call with fashion problems? Well, usually he'd ask Jeff, but yeah, that was out of the question. Who else? Not David, not Thad. God, please don't call Thad. Right, either Blainers or his scarf-loving better half! In the end Nick went with dapper Anderson, not even sure if Kurt would make it to the party.

"What are you going for, exactly?" Blaine sat cross-legged in front of Nick's closet, answering his friend's 911 five days before said party.

"I have no idea. I'm really bad at this.." Nick sighed as he went through old props and possible outfits. "It's been a back and forth over the last weeks and.. he won't even say 'I love you' anymore," the brunet was faltering. "Also, we haven't been past second base in a while." He sure didn't want to push his boyfriend, but he..wanted to feel desired again, the brunet admitted to himself, blushing deeply. "I just want him to fall in love with me all over again. I want him to _want_ me."

"Wow, that's some strong stuff." Blaine felt conflicted since he and Kurt were in such a good place, even though they were not that physically active yet. And the curly head had always assumed that the Niff were constantly at it like rabbits, they seemed so in love and comfortable with their bodies. This was news. He thought about the 'wanting' part.. "Maybe something with meaning? But still sexy?"

"For example?"

"Just something that'd remind him why he fell in love you." Blaine leaned back and propped himself up on his hands. "Like something from your first date? Or.."

"Oh my God, that's it!" Nick twirled around, _very manly, Duval.._ and grabbed a white muscle shirt and his leather jacket from the back of his closet. "See? Wolverine! It's perfect!"

"Sorry, I don't follow."

The brunet was bouncing, he was so happy with this idea. "The look from the first movie, we watched that the night we got together. Plus, Jeff's really into Hugh Jackman.. Can't blame him, he's hot."

"Sounds.. good?" Blaine grinned and held his hand up. "High five!"

Nick laughed. "Thanks, Blainers. I knew you'd be helpful for once!"

" _Hey!_ "

  


*

  


"I will have order!"

"Oh my God, _Dolores,_ give the gavel up already."

"Yeah, Montgomery, stick it up your you-know-what and stop hassling us!" Beatz glared questioningly at Trent from the side, who in return faltered. "Oh fu-dge, not literally, though! Why did I just say that? Great, now I'm picturing it.." Trent hid his face under his plushy hands and kept shaking back and forth in denial, his tail wagging in sync with his movements.. _Too bad_ , that picture was there now. And yes, he was dressed as a pup. He even had a snout. If it had only come with a muzzle as well.. Soothingly, David put an arm around his best friend. His best friend in a judge outfit, with wig and _gavel_ and all. He had rolled his eyes upon seeing Wes coming through the door.. _What else was there really for him to dress up as?_

And in the middle of this insanity called party was Jeff, drinking and happily dancing around. Just to tease his boyfriend he'd gone all out: Bright pink pair of converse paired with turquoise skinny jeans and some striped arm warmers. His nails were painted neon green, going well with his neon pink fishnet tank top. He had a studded belt plus matching wristband on; he was.. a sexy raver. He hoped Nick would think the same. He had _possibly maybe_ been a tad too uptight, he'd admit, so there was some unsolved tension... Already slightly intoxicated, he hopped over to David and Judge Judy to play some Dare or Dare.. Well, actually he planned on snatching the board from the table to change some of the entries for the night. So while his Warbler friends were busy, he grabbed a sharpie and changed half of the boxes to one specific dare. His mission was to make everyone awkward, 'cause that's always fun when you're drunk, right? He handed it to Thad on and went to go dance again.

Nick was late. He was supposed to get his sister to bed before he left that night since his parents were out as well, but she was having none of that. He struggled nearly an hour with the dark haired whirlwind until she was too exhausted to move anymore. And he hadn't even been dressed then. Well, to be fair, there wasn't really much to his outfit except the claw gloves he'd bought at some Halloween store. He also hadn't shaved for the past days and styled his longish hair up the Wolverine way. Fake cigar and _here we go!_

His dark jeans felt a little tight like the rest of his outfit, actually, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He made his way through the crowd when he finally arrived, just to see what seemed to be Wes (in a dress and a wig?) and a completely green David making out under a lot of cheering. Confused, he looked around the room, not able to spot Jeff yet, but Thad with David's board. _Ah... a dare._

When he and Wes parted, David simply shrugged. "Pics or it didn't happen." As if on cue, three Warblers raised their phones to show pictures of the kiss from different angles. His grin fell. " _Dammit.._ "

Nick couldn't help but laugh.. That was so them. As he turned, he gasped in surprise. He spotted the hottest thing in this place; tall, semi-blond and looking at him from across the room with his mouth hanging open. _Jeff._ His boyfriend looked dashing, mind-blowing even. _His clothes are freaking see-through!_ They were also really tight and looked like a set of highlighters, he added. Jeff seemed to be shaking his head slightly before he started to walk over, his hips swaying from side to side. Upon taking a closer look, Nick saw that the blond had put black and pink highlights into his bright hair. To top it off, his eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner and there was body glitter _e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e._

_Well, hot damn.._

The brunet gulped, trying to hide his excitement about his boyfriend's outfit as much as physically possible. He ended up with only a smirk on his lips when Jeff finally arrived by his side. He was going to beat him at his own game and play hard to get tonight.. It was usually also one of the blond's biggest turn-ons.

"Hello Stranger," Jeff dragged the last word, sending a shiver down Nick's spine, and went in for a kiss. The brunet tilted his head so that his boyfriend missed his mouth slightly.

Jeff pouted and Nick.. Nick winked. "Hello to you too." The blond tried again, but Nick dodged again.

"Let me.. Niiick," Jeff whined. "Come on, babe."

Nick quickly pecked his lips before he turned around and started for the drinks, the blond hot on his heels. _This was.. easy?_ "We're at a party, let's have some fun!" He got himself a beer and handed his boyfriend one as well. "But no funny business tonight, Jeff!"

"But... _Oh_ , I see what you did there.." The blond took a sip and brushed one finger down Nick's chest. "..and here. Nice touch."

The brunet could barely stop himself from jumping his boyfriend dressed in this eye candy, so he was extremely thankful when they were interrupted by Beatz in his lumberjack outfit, asking for a drink.

After that, they mingled with the others for a long time, Nick being pretty good at ignoring the blond and his insane outfit. He hadn't said a word about it, in fact. But he was thinking about it.. _Oh yes_ and he really shouldn't be. Jeff, on the other hand, was getting more and more tired of this. _What's up with him? This one time I want him horny and he is not interested at all._

People were clearing out into the garden for some ball drinking game; Nick was cheering loudly from inside and discussing rules with Wes or showing off his claws to other Warblers. Jeff only rolled his eyes and went back to the dance floor. Obviously, his outfit wasn't enough for Nick to make out and he had to change that, like, immediately. Losing all sense for his surroundings, he moved to the music, eyes half closed and feeling the beat. Every now and then, he glanced over at his boyfriend chatting with Wes or Trent, never looking at him, though. He did a few hot body rolls to get Nick's attention, but got full on frustrated when he saw the brunet had left the room. He huffed and followed him down some hallways, finding him leaning against a wall, his eyes shut.

"What is wrong with you?" Jeff was yelling; he hadn't planned to, _but well.._

Nick opened one eye and looked to the side. "What are you talking about?" And just like that, he earned himself a slap. Stunned, he looked at his boyfriend. "What the..?"

"Do you think I dress like this for any of the other guys? You wanted me to be your date, then you turn up late and don't even pay attention to me! That's mean and..and humiliating!" He went in for another slap, but Nick caught him by the wrist and held him back.

"You're such an idiot! Feel for yourself _how much_ I don't pay attention to you!" He dragged Jeff's hand down and placed it over his obvious hard-on.

"Oh.."

"Yes, ' _oh'.._ "

They exchanged angry looks for a moment before Jeff launched himself at the brunet, both hands on either side of his face, and kissed him hard on the lips. This time, Nick answered the kiss, tired of his game, just in need for more.. He opened his mouth right away, letting Jeff in, their tongues fighting for dominance.

The blond pressed Nick into the wall and rubbed their hips together, feeling the brunet's hands on his ass. He pulled roughly at his hair, breaking the kiss, and bit down into Nick's newly exposed neck, who groaned in response and squeezed with more emphasis. " _Ugh_ , you make me so hot for you..," the brunet murmured hoarsely against Jeff's temple.

The blond was panting against his skin. "Make love to me, Nicky," he moaned lowly and teasingly licked one of his bite marks. Nick didn't miss a beat to flip them around and lift his boyfriend up, whose legs wrapped tightly around his waist. Jeff's hands were still in his hair, his arms hugging the brunet's shoulders for stability.

"You have never been hotter than right now.. Say it again!" Nick let his tongue wander over the blond's chest and bit his nipples through the net top, hands still on Jeff's ass to support his weight.

"I want you..," he moaned again, "..inside me."

Nick had started to slowly thrust against his boyfriend. "Say more! _God_ , when you talk like this, I can't even.."

"Fuck me, Nicky.. Take me, I need you.. Please."

Nick's face was flushed red as he glanced to the side; no one from the party was in this part of the house, but it was still too exposed. "Tempting," he moaned when the blond rolled his hips against his, "but no, honey." Gently, the brunet let his boyfriend down onto the floor. "Not like this."

"What? But Nick.." Jeff looked genuinely disappointed. _That's at least something.._ "We waited long enough!"

"What's another day then, or another week?" He kissed Jeff softly. They were both still on full alert, but that had to wait for now. "Sure, I want it to happen, but not because I was playing hard to get at some party."

"Fine. But you will take care of this, right?" He pointed at his crotch, making Nick chuckle loudly.

"Oh course, babe. Come on!" Taking the blond's hand, he led him back through the living room to get to the other side of the house, where he knew that David had his room. They crossed Kurt in his Mad Hatter outfit, who glanced over at his own boyfriend. He shook his head at the duo. "Like rabbits.." Blaine just grinned. _The more you know.._

"Can you do that again? Lift me?" Jeff closed and locked the door behind them.

Nick smirked darkly. "Maybe next time, if you ask very, very nicely.." He trailed his hands over the blond's torso, down to his belt and slowly undid that and then his pants. "But now..." He sank to his knees, his own jeans already unzipped, and dove in at once. "You've never been with anyone else, right?"

Jeff groaned loudly, his head falling back against the door and one hand in Nick's dark locks. The brunet's mouth was simply too good to be true. " _Never_ ," he hissed between clenched teeth. "Never anyone else.."

They were already that worked up that it took not that many jerks for Nick to cum on his hand and the floor. _Oops._ The vibrations of his moans filled Jeff with hot desire. The brunet continued to suck on his head and trailed his tongue over his whole length a few times, before he followed shortly after.. The blond was clearly out of breath, his stomach still feeling hot and tight as he uncurled his fingers from Nick's hair, who was licking him clean.

_Hot.._

He got up and cleaned himself with some random tissue, grinning as Jeff reached out to wipe his lips clean with his thumb. They leaned in for another searing kiss and then, pants up and done again, the tall boy put his arms around the brunet's neck and briefly rested his temple against Nick's. "I love you," he whispered into brunet hair before he let go again.

"I love you too, Jeffie. Always." With a happy smile on his lips, Nick intertwined their hands and led them back into the fray.


	21. Love

_"Uuuugh.."_

A muffled groan escaped Jeff's lips as he lay curled up in a ball, both hands in his hair, cold fingers pressed against his scalp. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, his head was pounding and it, _ugh..,_ it hurt _._. He groaned again, the iciness of his hands easing some of the pain away, but now he slowly started to feel the nausea. _Never will I ever drink again!_

He brought his hands down to his stomach and held it tightly, not even noticing that there was already something else.. He only ever realized that he wasn't alone when he heard a faint ruffling sound and a content sigh from behind him. The blond slowly opened his eyes. This wasn't even his room..

He froze shortly when a mess of dark locks brushed against his face; Nick had just placed his head in the crook of Jeff's neck, after he'd apparently been hugging him around the waist all along.. _Wow, I'm out of it.._ Soothingly, the brunet ran his hand across Jeff's angry belly and placed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's shoulder. "That bad?" he asked lowly against the blond's skin.

Jeff closed his eyes once again, but not before he glanced down his body. _Yep, almost naked._

_Why am I glittering?_

His voice was raw and weak when he answered. _"Kill me now.."_ He could basically feel Nick's smile against his skin, wondering when they had ended here and how he'd managed to keep his boyfriend from climbing him in his sleep like he usually did.

"I'd rather not.."

Jeff chuckled.. and immediately regretted it. It made him cough awkwardly and, feeling his stomach twist and turn again, he pulled his legs up even further. Cold sweat covered his forehead and made his bright bangs stick to his face. He shivered, then felt a rush of heat running down his back.

"Shhh, babe, it'll be alright. It's just a hangover." The brunet gently petted Jeff's waist, feeling goosebumps under his fingertips as he did so. Then, suddenly, the blond started to move. He began crawling to all fours and off Nick's bed.

"I think I'm gonna throw up.." Clenching his stomach, the blond stumbled over to his boyfriend's bathroom and sure enough, what followed was the unmistakable sound of stomach contents hitting water and pottery. Nick rolled over onto his back and with one hand over his face waited for his boyfriend to come back, meanwhile listening to the flush and then the faucet.

When he did return, the blond looked pale, but at least he was walking straight. "Better?" Nick asked, glancing through his fingers. Jeff gave him a weak smile in return.

"Much better." He collapsed onto the mattress and draped one arm over his boyfriend's middle, nestling into him. Nick moved the arm from his face to the blond's shoulders and, while petting his heated skin lightly, pulled him a little closer.

He sighed, smiling and his eyes closed. "You are such a light-weight.."

"Am not!" Jeff mumbled into the brunet's side.

"Actually, you are. This was the second time that you've thrown up today." Nick didn't really want to think about the first time. Seeing Jeff throw up in person was always frightening to him, because his body went into total shut-down afterward.. Meaning that Nick had to wrestle Jeff out of his clothes, whose body had gone limp after using the last of his strength to drag himself into the bathroom to puke his guts out, and get him to bed somehow.

"Have not," Jeff whined and poked Nick's abs, literally not remembering any of that. Nick smiled sadly as he pressed a weak kiss to the blond's forehead.

"Whatever you say, love.."

It was almost lunchtime when Nick felt the blond stir again; the sun was coming in through the half-open blinds, leaving them between sheets and illuminated shadows. Nick kept his gaze fixated on the top of his boyfriend's head, feeling a sudden rush of happiness as he imagined counting all the different shades of blond hair until they had to get up. An involuntary smile crept onto his face as Jeff took a deep breath.

The brunet could feel the air hitting his chest, right before his boyfriend snuggled further into the warm embrace and pressed a simple kiss to his skin. Feathery, he started to brush his fingertips over Jeff's back. His fingers kept traveling over the blond's skin, moving with only a little bit more pressure when Jeff whispered into the silence of Nick's bedroom, his voice sleepy and delicate.

"Nicky?"

"Mmmh?"

"I feel gross. Can we go shower?"

Nick sat up with a sigh and stretched his back; Jeff was on his knees next to him, enjoying the show. When the brunet glanced over, he rolled his eyes and shooed him off the mattress. "Move, pervert!" He followed his boyfriend to the bathroom, who stopped in the doorway, making Nick bump into his backside.

The blond turned halfway around and took Nick's hand, gently pulling him in, and quietly closed the door. He wrapped his arms around the brunet's strong shoulders.. And how he loved those shoulders.. He pecked them affectionately, letting his bright fringe brush the skin lightly. "Thanks for taking care of me.." Gently, Nick hugged him back, his hands flat against Jeff's shoulder blades. "I love you," the tall boy added.

He lifted his head to look at his boyfriend, seeing nothing but warmth in his dark eyes as they rested their foreheads against each other, exchanging simple Eskimo kisses. He sensed Nick's hands wandering down his spine to the waistband of his boxers and let him take them off. He never felt more exposed, more vulnerable than in this moment.

The tension left his body when Nick finally said it back. "I love you.."

The brunet stayed close to Jeff, but withdrew his hands to take off his own sweatpants, leaving them both naked and with nowhere to hide. No more needed to be said, no more to be done.. It was as simple as that.

Nick reached out and turned the water on, taking his boyfriend's hand to lead him inside and under the warm stream. Jeff took a deep breath as he hugged Nick again, leaning onto the brunet as the water ran down their bodies. The other pulled him closer, leaving no space between them and kissed his neck lightly. Jeff's hair dye colored the water, that hit the white tiles, gray and pink.

Nick began caressing every strip of skin that came beneath his fingers, still standing very close to the other boy, but when he got to Jeff's chest, he felt something sticky stopping him. He pulled back and smiled at the questioning look in the blond's eyes, pointing behind the tall boy. "Will you hand me the gel?" Without asking, Jeff reached for the bottle and then squirted some onto Nick's hand. "Let me get that glitter off of you, Edward Cullen," he mumbled as he slowly but surely turned the gel into delicious smelling foam between Jeff's chest and his fingertips. He firmly washed the glitter away, extending the foam to the blond's arms and stomach, before Jeff started to wash his back.

Finally, when they stepped out again, both feeling lightheaded from the hot steam and the breathtaking kisses they had shared between cleaning the other, they went straight for Nick's closet. For his boyfriend the brunet selected one of his Dalton hoodies that was too big for him and a pair of loose fitting pajama pants. He himself got into his sweatpants from before and a light green t-shirt. He took the blond's hand. "Breakfast?"

"Totally."

  
  


*

  
  


They were merely two steps into the ground-level hallway when a squeal interrupted the content silence between them.

"AGENT 6!"

"Hey Megan," Jeff said calmly as a little brunette launched herself at him. He loved the nickname, a remainder of an old game they used to play when Nick's sister had been in kindergarten. He let go of his boyfriend's hand and hugged the little girl, swinging her around as he lifted her up in the air. "You're getting heavy. How old are you again? Ten?"

"I'm 8 and a half, Jeffie! And you are shrinking," she pouted while she wrapped her thin legs around the blond's waist.

"Actually, honey, you are the one who's growing. We just don't anymore," Nick interjected, already sitting at the kitchen table.

"You stopped that long ago," his little sister snickered, burying her face in the blond's neck. Jeff bit his lower lip, trying hard not to grin and seeing his boyfriend's pout that was so similar to Megan's. "Why is your hair wet, Agent 6?"

Nick ignored the comment about his height and smirked at his boyfriend's blush. _Have fun with that conversation._

"Well, Special Agent 5, I took a shower."

"At our house?"

"Yes." He sat her down on the table and seated himself next to Nick.

She eyed the two boys suspiciously. "Alone?"

Flustered, Nick nudged his boyfriend under the table as he was already opening his mouth to answer her. "We should eat something!" Hastily, he lifted his sister off the table and went to the fridge. "Sandwich, anyone?"

Megan moved around the furniture towards the blond and crawled onto his lap. She flung her arms around his neck and got close so she could whisper into his ear. "Did he kiss you again? You can tell me."

Jeff looked at her with a blank expression before he snorted with laughter. He hugged her closely before he whispered back. "It's okay. He is allowed to."

Nick shot them a glare from the counter. "What are you talking about?"

"Hmm," Megan seemed to be thinking about it, ignoring her brother completely. "Mom says, those things are for adults. I could talk to him about it."

"Talk to me about what?"

The blond turned in his seat and smiled at his boyfriend. "Nothing, honey."

"Dad calls Mom "honey" too. But they are married, so it's okay." She hopped off his lap and walked backwards to Nick to get her sandwich, smiling happily at the blond. "So, will you marry my brother?" Jeff's eyes widened at Megan's bluntness, his mouth hanging open and no answer in mind. He blushed furiously, looking at Nick in search for help.

Nick handed his sister her lunch, his smile unbent. "We can't marry here. It's not allowed." He kissed her cheek. "Now go, eat." He was used to this kind of talk, Megan had always been like this. She pouted again, but didn't complain as she left for the living room. Soon they were able to hear some cartoon playing in the background.

Jeff's face was still burning red when the brunet gave him his lunch as well. "Don't think too much of it, she's just a kid." Nick stroked the blond's back and pressed a light kiss to his temple before he sat down. The tall dancer reached out and laced his fingers with Nick's on the tabletop.

"I-"

"It's okay, Jeff. We don't need to talk about this."

One elbow propped up, Jeff looked down at his plate, holding onto Nick's hand as if his life depended on it. And it kind of did.. Always had. "I would, you know.. if we could.." He glanced over at his boyfriend, who was watching him fiddle with his hair. "Because, well, you know how much I- and yeah.. I just- I would."

Nick understood completely and had to blink away tears building up. Overcoming the little shock, he smiled warmly at his flustered looking boyfriend. "Then we should move to Connecticut after graduation." He pecked the blond's knuckles. "I love you."

Jeff let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Geez, Nick, I love you.. so much." He leaned over and sealed their lips together.

"You know, I could take you so much more seriously, if you weren't wearing green nail polish.."

Jeff took a confused look at his hands, then simply shrugged and beamed at his boyfriend. "You know you love it."


	22. Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> needy boys are needy... :D

Halfway through their lunch, the boys were joined by Nick's parents, coming back inside after working in the garden. "Hello Mrs. Duval, Mr. Duval." The blond put his sandwich down and sat a little straighter. Nick smiled subtly at the tense body language before he waved Hello, his mouth too full to say anything.

"Jeff," Mrs. Duval greeted him from afar, "how nice to see you, sweetie." When she was close enough he got up and hugged her like he always did and shook Mr. Duval's hand next. "Jeffery," The older man said, afterward nodding in Nick's direction. "Son." Mr. Duval looked a lot like Nick, the same eyes and nose, but Jeff's boyfriend had his mother's hair color and smile. It was a beautiful combination..

"So," Mrs. Duval smiled, placing her gloves on the counter and grabbing a bottle of water for herself from the fridge, "long night, huh? You two had fun?"

"Mom!"

"What? You were home late, you got up late.. Must have been _good_ ," she said mischievously.

Nick's father looked like he was about to blush, "Evelyn! Don't answer your mother, Nicholas." His imagination went straight to the 'my teenage son has a boyfriend' section and disturbingly carved itself into his brain. He shook his head shortly, failing at getting that image out of his head. Nick didn't look any better, but Jeff and Mrs. Duval just grinned at each other. They always liked to tease the Duval men, one might call it a common hobby of theirs.

"Dad, I promise, nothing too wild happened!" Nick stuttered out, nudging his boyfriend's leg beneath the table when he saw the blond's amused face.

"Hey Mom! Mooom?" Megan squealed as she entered the kitchen with her empty plate, "Can we go to the park? I want to go to the playground!" She was bouncing up and down in front of her mother, who looked over at the boys at the table.

Jeff clenched his stomach cautiously, sending Nick a pained look. The brunet hadn't noticed his mother's silent question yet. "You okay?" he asked quietly; the blond looked suddenly a lot paler to him.

Nick's father placed a firm hand on his shoulder, pressing slightly. "You boys should take your sister, Nicholas."

Jeff shot his boyfriend a panicked glance. "Sorry, Dad, Jeff wasn't feeling well all day and me neither," the brunet lied smoothly, trying to come up with an excuse so he could take care of his pale looking boyfriend.

"It's okay, honey, but you guys should lay a little lower on the alcohol. You are too young," Nick's mother said with a tense face. "But fine, I'll go with her, I have a headache anyway. You joining us, John?"

"Sure, honey."

Megan was already by the door and getting into her coat. "Nick is Jeff's honey," she called into the kitchen.

"That's nice, sweetie."

Nick face palmed himself mentally. _What did I ever do to deserve this?_

  
  


_*_

  
  


Once they were upstairs again, the blond swirled around to face his boyfriend, curling one finger and beckoning him over. "How's your stomach? Do you need to lie down again?" Nick's voice was full of concern, his face confused at the smile on Jeff's lips.

"Geez, Nick. I'm _fine_! You're so gullible sometimes.." The blond took a step closer, swaying from side to side, glancing at his boyfriend innocently. "I just wanted to have you to myself.. Preferably over _there_ ," he pointed towards the bed. Judging from the brunet's expression, he still hadn't gotten the vibe yet.

"But.. my parents are downstairs.."

"Not for long, though," the tall boy grinned mischievously, dragging one finger down Nick's chest like he had the night before. "And you promised me something.. I believe to remember something along the lines of 'rocking my world', right? You better keep your promises, Nicky!"

Nick looked stunned, his mouth hanging open but his eyes dark with lust. "Jeff," he said lowly, almost sinisterly. "Don't do this.."

"Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Jeff, my parents.."

"..will be gone soon." For emphasis, he lifted his hoodie just a bit, revealing his toned stomach. The brunet's eyes fell instantly to the trail of dark blonde hair below Jeff's navel and he bit his lower lip; his expression being one of pained desire. The blond reached out and took his boyfriend's hand.

"Babe? What are you..?"

Jeff held his hand to his skin, pushing the brunet's fingers through his hairs. "You want this, Nicky. I know you do.."

"But you said you weren't feeling well?" Nick was getting desperate, clutching at his last straw before he'd lose all self-control. He pouted when he saw a smirk on his boyfriend's lips. _Of course.._

"Ain't I a naughty boy? Making you lie for me.. I think you should punish me.."

"Gosh, Jeff, if you are just messing with me or something, I'm going to kill you!"

The blond let go of his hoodie and held his palm over his heart, mimicking a hurtful expression. "Nicky! What did I ever do to deserve such cruel accusations?" He moved the back of his hand to cover his eyes melodramatically and, peaking through his fingers, he applied more pressure to Nick's hand on his stomach. They heard a faint thud from downstairs, the front door had obviously been closed, and Jeff's eyes flickered in the direction of the noise for just a fraction of a second. „I love you," he grinned broadly, his eyes back on the beauty that was his one true love.

The brunet rolled his eyes, finally giving in to his boyfriend's shenanigans. "Shut up," he sighed and moved forwards, pulling Jeff down for a lingering kiss by grabbing him by the nape of his neck. Tugging at the hoodie, he pushed it up and broke contact just for the blond to take it off. It hit to the floor right after, shortly followed by his own t-shirt.

Jeff let himself get pushed towards the bed, his boyfriend's lips now distracted with teasing the sensitive skin below the blond's ear; his head fell back to give Nick more space to work on. This was heaven, _he should do that all day, every day.._ He gasped when the brunet bit down on his collarbone, his hands already pushing Jeff's pants down. The blond let his own hands wander over Nick's back, pulling him even closer, until he rested them inside his sweatpants and over his ass, squeezing eagerly.

With a little wiggling of the hips, those last layers were off not nearly soon enough. Both now completely naked, they fell onto the bed, slightly bouncing off the mattress, and stared into each other’s eyes, panting and hesitating just for a second. Jeff was the first to take action. He rolled them over and straddled his boyfriend's waist, hands gliding down his chest before he took Nick's half hard cock into his hand and started to pump him slowly. The brunet arched his back into the touch, lips parted and little noises coming from the back of his throat as he grabbed the covers tightly.

Jeff leaned down and closed his lips over the brunet's throbbing erection, licking off any pre-cum already leaking from the slit. He moaned into the taste and the hot hard feeling inside his mouth as he slowly began sucking on Nick's head.

Nick was fidgeting beneath the touch, groaning and thrusting into his boyfriend's humid warmth. His hands let go of his sheets and he ran them through bright blond hair, shifting and tugging at soft strands brushing against his fingers. His hips bucked up when Jeff licked the whole underside of his length, teasingly nudging the thick vein and then his balls with his lips. "Fuck, Jeff," he moaned, his body hot and already glistening from his arousal. The blond deepened his efforts as much as possible, causing the brunet to pant in the most profane way when he hit the back of his boyfriend's throat. " _Oh shit.."_ Slowly, Jeff moved off of him, teasingly scraping his teeth along Nick's length before completely pulling off with a low smacking sound. " _Jeffie_?" Nick whined, his breathing hard and uneven, his body on fire and stomach already tightening.

The blond looked up at his boyfriend, sprawled out in the cutest, most wanting and life ruining way, and twisted his lips, thinking. "Fine, but you better be ready for round two, like, right away," he said through tight lips, though his eyes were dark and glistening playfully. "I need you," he added in a whisper and put one hand over his boyfriend's, who had moved his to stroke Jeff's face affectionately.

With a wink, the blond leaned forward and kissed Nick's lower stomach, trailing his tongue down the way his dark hair was leading. His open mouth wandered up and down the side of his boyfriend's length once, twice and a third time before he devoured his head and sank down as far as he could, playing with his tongue as his head began going up and down. Nick's hands grabbed his hair again, strangled groans exiting his parted lips, coming in shorter and shorter intervals now. His face was scrunched up, his eyes squeezed tightly and teeth clenched, as his pants grew more and more into a pleased hissing sound.

Jeff felt his own arousal leaking onto the covers while he listened to his boyfriend's ecstatic moans, his own hard-on badly yearning for attention. He sank down low and hollowed his cheeks.

" _Oh fuck.._ Shit, _Jeff!_ " Nick tightened his grip on the blond's head and held him in place, making Jeff moan as he used his strength on him. _Absolute and total turn-on.._

The blond relaxed his throat and, when he sucked a little harder, his boyfriend spilled into his mouth, trembling while his orgasm ripped through him like fire..

That's when Jeff heard another thud from downstairs and people talking. _Oh shit.._ He almost choked on Nick's cum when he pulled away and jumped back from his boyfriend. "Nicky! Jeffie!" a faint voice yelled, steps sounded loudly on the stairway. Megan was running up the stairs! _Why were they back already?_ Nick shot the blond a panicked look. He was paralyzed from shock.

"You locked the door, right?" Jeff muttered helplessly. Nick's face only grew even more blank "Fuck!" Jeff scrambled to his feet, but got tangled in the sheets and fell off the bed.

Nick, finally shaken out of his paralysis, started from his lying position to the door and was barely able to lock it, panting heavily, just when Megan tried the door knob. "Nicky? Why is the door closed? Let me in!" she squealed. "I want to say Goodbye to Jeffie!"

 _Fucking hell!_ Nick jumped into his sweatpants, glanced around to find Jeff already clothed, so he opened the door. "See? I'm fine. Everything is fine!" _Did she even ask that?_

Megan tipped her head to the side, eying her brother's naked chest. "You're out of breath? You did not kiss again, did you?" she whispered loudly.

Blushing a little deeper, the brunet turned to let Jeff, who was wiping his mouth, pass and say Goodbye to his little sister. _Always with her rituals.._ "Jeffie, I told Mom about the you-know-what," she said as he lifted the little brunette in his arms, consciously making sure that she wasn't on par with the prominent tent in his pants and that she only touched him from the waist upwards.

"And?" he asked her with an interested little smile, spinning around so Megan's hair was flying from side to side.

Warily watching her brother putting his shirt on, she explained at a low volume, "She said there were normal family kisses and adult kisses. Family kisses are okay!" She buried her little face in the crook of Jeff's neck and hugged him tightly. "Were you having adult kisses, Jeffie?" In the doorway, Mrs. Duval was watching the scene, waiting for her daughter to finish her rituals. She crossed her arms over her chest and caught her son's eye.

"Yes, Nicholas, were you?"

 _I can't fucking believe this._ "Mom, I can explain!" he flailed helplessly. Jeff set Megan down and quietly sent her outside as Mr. Duval was peaking in over his wife's shoulder. He kissed her cheek, grinning. _Did they just switch roles?_ "Come on, darling. It's not like we were any better at their age. Just be safe, boys." Nick saw the blond's face burning; he had turned away from Nick's parents due to apparent reasons and was on his way to hide behind his boyfriend.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "And let the door open from now on," she called back, "We'll see you at dinner tomorrow, right Jeffrey?" _Somebody say aaawkward?_ Nick felt like the heat from their faces might burn another hole in the atmosphere. _Please, God, just let me die.._

"Su-sure," the blond muttered. Mentally kicking himself where it counts, he put on a grin and his usual cheerful self before he grew a pair and called back, "See you later!"

The boys heard the door thud for the third time in less than half an hour. "Well, that was just horrific," the brunet mumbled, hands ruffling his hair even more.

"And disturbing," Jeff added, blush and grin still in place. He hugged his boyfriend from behind, pecking the nape of his neck softly. "I should get going; I couldn't stand another interruption."

The brunet tensed. "But Jeff!" Disappointment and sadness rang clearly in his weakened voice as he leaned back into the tall boy; the need to be held bigger than ever after that humiliating cock-block action his parents had just pulled off.

The blond's gentle fingers drew little patterns on Nick's stomach while he continued kissing his neck. His boyfriend was leaning on him and it was, like, the best feeling ever.. _Okay, maybe second best.._ "You could always come with me.."

 _Pun intended..?_ He didn't know for sure, but Nick still smiled happily, eyes closed and breathing finally even again. He ran his palms over Jeff's hand and held on tightly. "Lead the way."


	23. Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!  
> Keep the Rating in mind ;)

The ride to Jeff's house had been nice and quiet. Except when Nick had seen his boyfriend squirm uncomfortably in that pair of too tight turquoise pants and pulled over into an empty parking lot. _That_ had been nice as well..

Although not really quiet at all.

It was late in the afternoon when Jeff and Nick finally arrived. Soon they were hanging out in the Sterling's main bathroom, Nick shaving while the blond was desperately trying to get the remains of his raver nail polish off of himself. With a clean face Nick sat down onto the rim of the bathtub, his feet dangling in the air, chuckling at his boyfriend's constant fussing..

" _Ugh, it smells disgusting.."_

" _It stings.."_

And his favorite, _"I hate you, this colors my skin green.."_

At one point, he almost knocked the bottle of polish remover over, but Nick grabbed it before it could spill all over the blond's legs. " _Little piece of shi-.._ Thanks, Nicky," Jeff mumbled, obviously irritated with the whole matter, and glanced over at his boyfriend. "Hey! Are you laughing at me?"

Nick placed a peck on the blond's nose. "Never." Jeff frowned and perked his lips into the cutest annoyed pout. "Okay, maybe a little.." The tall boy rolled his eyes and got back to work, cleaning the last nail before he got up to wash his hands. "I love your soap," he heard the brunet from behind himself. "It smells..," Nick took Jeff's hand and held it to his nose, "Like watermelon and.." He smelled again, rubbing the back against his cheek, "..apples?" He pecked the soft skin and looked up with a content smile, only to find something odd flickering in his boyfriend's eyes.

"You like the smell?" the blond asked quietly.

Nick raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes? On you especially," he added with a wink as he intertwined their fingers. "We should probably..." Looking into Jeff's expressive brown eyes, he faltered, not sure what he'd wanted to say in the first place. _Doesn't matter_ , he decided when Jeff leaned down to connect their lips softly.

_Yep, doesn't matter at all._

With his free hand he cupped his boyfriend's face and tipped his head to the side to deepen the kiss, his tongue lightly brushing along Jeff's lower lip, gently asking for entrance. The blond parted his lips and met Nick's with his own, shortly caressing each other, before he pulled back from the kiss, pecked his boyfriend once on the corner of his mouth, and led them out of the bathroom. "Come along, little fella."

Nick squeezed his hand once, shortly and suggestively wiggling his eyebrows. "We both know that I'm not _little_.."

The blond rolled his eyes but kept dragging Nick along. "Yeah, I know. Ain't I lucky? But I wasn't talking about your dick, Nicky."

"That doesn't make it any better," the brunet mumbled, following the tall boy into his room.

Silently, they flopped down onto Jeff's bed; Nick immediately resting his head on the blond's chest and their legs entangled. Their hands laid next to Jeff's heart and he brushed his thumb gently over his boyfriend's fingers, eliciting a content sigh and a few deep breaths in the brunet.

 _Cuddling is probably the best thing ever,_ Nick though as he snuggled his face deeper into the blond's shirt, inhaling the soft scent, _Just the feeling of being together, right?_ Okay, he could think of a few other things to do on a bed with his boyfriend like... _talking_ and.. _stuff_. But they weren't necessary. He was happy like this anyway.

"Will you tell me what happened at the party? I don't remember much," Jeff asked after a while into the silence of his room, "and you seemed pretty worried."

Nick let out a long breath. So much for carefree cuddle-time. "The usual, I guess," he answered. "The scary thing is always what happens at home, though."

"I'm sorry," Jeff said quietly. He wrapped his arm a little tighter around the brunet's shoulders.

"It's okay, Jeffie. What matters is that you're alright and that we had fun. Which we did, I must add.. In case you forgot that too."

The blond brought his face into Nick's soft dark curls. "How could I ever forget the hottest moment in our sex life so far?" he whispered hoarsely. Most of Nick's blood rushed south, some of it staining his face a vivid red.

"It was the claws, right?" He grinned, hiding his face in his boyfriend's chest. Of course he knew what Jeff was referring to; he'd made it pretty obvious in the past that he loved Nick's strength, especially when he used it on him.

Jeff hit him in the arm. "Jerk!" Letting go of Nick's hand, he flourished his in front of his face. "And _by the way_ , I wasn't the only one enjoying themselves, Nicholas." Doing some air quotes, he added in an unimpressed tone, " _Ugh, Jeff, you make me so hot for you, you've never been hotter than right now,_ yada yada.." Nick's face burned bright and warm against the blond's chest, both in embarrassment and arousal, but he looked up nonetheless, finding Jeff's warm brown eyes focused on him.

"Of course _that_ you remember," he muttered. "Figures."

"I remember being all hot and bothered and that you little sadist made me behave like an idiot!" He poked the brunet's nose. "That wasn't nice."

With big innocent eyes, Nick held his boyfriend's gaze, no sign of emotion there. "I just wanted to see you beg and crawl.."

"Nick." The tall boy's face was blank from shock, his voice expressionless. "Seriously?"

The brunet rolled his eyes, his dilated pupils had given him away anyway. "Maybe a little. But I actually wanted you to remember.." He faltered.

"Remember what?"

"Why you loved me," he sang small, sheepishly even. That plan had been quite stupid.

Jeff huffed. "By being an asshole?"

"Yes, in a way."

The blond turned his head back with a sigh, sinking deeper into his pillow. "Well, Wolverine is kind of an asshole.. So, I see what you did there.. Again." He winked at his boyfriend when he looked down again, just before his tone became more serious. "I always loved you, always will. It was just..difficult these past few months." Jeff rolled onto his side and ran his palm gently over his boyfriend's waist. "I'm over it, I just want to _be_ with you; be happy _by being with you_."

"Do you..?"

"I told you before and I'm telling you now, I'm ready, Nick. That didn't change." He let his hand stray, soon cupping his half hard boyfriend through the fabric of his jeans. He leaned over for a soft kiss.

"But we already.. I already.. and you.. in the car?" He regretted having said anything as soon as he saw the hurt expression on Jeff's face, withdrawing from the kiss instantly.

"You don't want to? Don't want _me_?"

Wide-eyed, the brunet shook his head. "I want you more than anything!"

The blond rolled onto his back, his eyes never leaving Nick's. "Then take me, Nick. I'm here to claim," he whispered, stopping the brunet shortly in his motion to climb on top of him. "But.. keep me, okay?"

Nick pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his boyfriend's mouth. "Always.." Then another to the blond's jawline. "And forever." Relief washed over Jeff's features and the next moment he had his arms around his boyfriend's neck, connecting their lips eagerly.

As his tongue was mapping out the inside of his boyfriend's mouth, teasingly licking the roof and the back of his teeth, Nick moved to lie completely on top of him. He pressed one hand onto Jeff's crotch, nudging his legs apart. The blond arched into the touch, moaning into Nick's mouth, and tightened the grip around his neck. He wrapped himself around the brunet's waist to grind their hips together, only to be gently pushed away almost instantly. He opened his eyes, a questioning look on his face, as Nick leaned away, seated on his knees between the blond's long legs. Jeff was about to follow him up, but the brunet easily pressed him into the mattress with one hand.

Jeff bit his bottom lip and moved his hips, eyes dark and a groan escaping his lips, making Nick smirk.

He lifted his t-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans before he touched his boyfriend again, ridding him of his bright shirt once and for all. At home Jeff hadn't changed out of his tight pants, which Nick was therefore in the process of undoing next. After popping the two buttons, Jeff pulled his kneed up to his chest and lift his hips for Nick to slide both his pants and boxers down his legs. Relieved from the restriction, the blond sighed as he once more embraced his boyfriend, who was running his palms affectionately up and down his thighs, admiring the beauty of the blond's naked body.

Jeff brushed his fingers over the waistband of Nick's open jeans, trailing his gaze over the dark hair peeking through, then up his chest and into his brown eyes. He bit his lower lips again, looking up through light lashes, his eyes wide in anticipation.

Nick took a hold of his wrist, moved it back and pushed it next to Jeff's head into the mattress while he hovered over the blond's body. Kissing and outlining his abs with his tongue, Nick wiggled out of his pants, kicking them off and discarding them to the floor. He wrapped his fingers around his own leaking hard-on, slicking it up with pre-cum, and groaned, letting his head fall back. He was throbbing and pulsing, his head snapping back when he heard the blond gasp from below. He let go and repeated the same process on his boyfriend, watching with dark eyes how Jeff was thriving and coming undone beneath his touch.

Blindly, the blond reached to his bedside table and after a short shuffling through other stuff handed Nick their supplies from the first drawer. The brunet lubed his fingers up and pressed a hot wet kiss to his boyfriend's lips. Jeff was shifting impatiently, opening his legs even further and guiding Nick's shaking hand near his entrance.

_He is so sure about this.. Why isn't he afraid?_

Jeff bit Nick's lower lip, pulling it down lightly when he let go of his wrist and placed his hands on his ass instead, feeling him up, squeezing and sending a shiver down Nick's spine. He hadn't noticed it before, but the brunet was actually shivering without Jeff doing anything, his hand twitching against the blond's hole.

"It's okay," Jeff said reassuringly, using all of his strength not to groan when Nick flicked his thumb over the blond's slit, and soothingly ran his palms over his back. "Everything's fine, I trust you-" His head fell back into the pillow with a groan when Nick pressed in, slowly and shakily. He took a deep breath. "Relax, _uh,_ _Nicky_.." the blond managed between gasps, although mostly talking to his own body.

After a few more deep breaths, Nick worked his finger more confidently, soon adding another, and slowly opened his boyfriend up. When he pushed a third in, Jeff hissed in pain and the brunet stilled at once, worry crossing his face. Carefully, he moved up and down, stretching while the hissing turned into a slight hum of approval. Jeff's eyes were shut tightly and he was panting ever so slightly. "Come on," he exhaled, "Come on, Nick, do it! Do –  _fuck_  - do it! Me!"

The brunet's eyes blackened with lust; Jeff talking dirty would forever be the hottest thing to reach his ears. He put the condom on to keep his own mess to a minimum at their first time, then lubed and lined himself up with the tall boy's entrance. Displeased with the sudden emptiness, Jeff lifted his heavy lids and held steady eye contact until Nick finally pushed in. The blond had a hard time focusing on anything other than the increasing feeling of being ripped apart with every inch that he was filled, no matter how gentle Nick kept his movements.

Once Nick bottomed out though, he stopped and searched the blond's face for any sign of discomfort, finding..  _a lot_.

_Oh no._

He waited, but the tight heat around his pulsing length was way too much to handle and he was afraid he wouldn't last long enough. As in, come way too early.. As in, _right now_.

Slowly, he swayed his hips to stretch Jeff a little more, eliciting a low whine, until the blond flung his arms around his shoulders, nails digging deep into his skin, and gasped in surprise. "Oh God, Nick, right there! Right there!" Jeff's body was on fire, both from pain and desire; a warm tight feeling gradually replacing the foreign feeling of being filled. " _Move_ , Nick!" he gasped out, and he did. Pulling out with a groan and pushing back in, his every touch burning against the tall boy's glowing skin. And he slid along that smooth spot again. _Of course, he would.._ Jeff bit down into Nick's tense neck, a shaky breath mixed with a groan escaping the brunet's lips in return.

Picking up speed, he settled into a steady rhythm of slamming into his boyfriend, impossibly tight around him, over and over again, but he was still jittery, painfully on edge, holding back so he wouldn't end this way before Jeff was happy and satisfied.

Jeff sensed the stuttering of Nick's hips and, although he loved it how Nick took control over him, this was about them both, even if Jeff was already worked up. He could sense the brunet's difficulties so he decided to lift some of the pressure off of Nick's mind.. He wrapped his arms around the brunet's shoulders and by softly applying pressure to the whole length of his trembling body he managed to flip them over, his boyfriend still deep inside of him. Nick didn't lean back, though; he stayed seated, holding on to the blond's back with one hand, the other supporting his weight by pressing into the mattress. With awe he looked at the tall boy on top of himself and started moving again, his hips thrusting upwards into the tight heat.

Jeff had his hands around the brunet's neck for support; he lifted himself up before slamming back down, meeting his Nick's thrust and causing him to gasp against his chest. Jeff took the opportunity to recline his upper body further down, his head tilted back as he began moaning again, legs wrapped tightly around Nick's waist. He lifted himself again and leaned back ever so slightly, changing the angle, and with a roll of his hips sank down. He kept rocking and pressing and rolling his hips, tense back muscles supporting most of his weight. He opened his eyes to watch Nick, whose finger tips were digging harshly into his lower back, making his skin burn under the touch, only to find him furrowing his brows, mouth slack and Jeff just knew that his boyfriend was close.. He brought his right hand up and pulled the brunet in by the nape of his neck, sealing their lips together as diversion; their tongues instantly wrestling between parted lips, swallowing the pleased sounds escaping their throats.

Keeping his boyfriend close, Jeff changed the angle once more and whispered against Nick's heated skin: "Not yet.." He let his tongue flicker along the brunet's ear, "Please, _ah,_ Nick, _please,_ not yet.." His eyes rolled back and he gasped when Nick bucked his hips up slightly differently, hitting Jeff's prostate hard. The blond groaned loudly, stars dancing behind his eyelids and panting heavily as his boyfriend kept on slamming into him from underneath. "Oh God, oh _God_ , Nick," he hissed, his brain jammed with a bright blinding fire, "Nick! _Ah shit_ , God, _yes_..."

Nick was squirming beneath the tall boy, whose skin was so beautifully flushed, his chest heaving and those little noises leaving his mouth because _he_ , Nick, was finally doing something completely right. Suddenly Jeff's head fell down, chin on his chest; he was biting his lower lip hardly and the next thing Nick felt was hot wet spurts of liquid hitting his chest and dripping down over his tightening stomach. Jeff spasming around his throbbing length in his ecstatic bliss sent the brunet over the edge and he bit the blond's shoulder to muffle his moans when he came hard inside of his boyfriend.

The tall boy collapsed on top of his boyfriend, both panting heavily, heads next to each other as he breathed hot air onto Nick's neck. The brunet was still buried deep inside him, filling him up with warmth, and he slowly lifted his hips, wincing at the loss when he pulled himself off completely. He rolled to the side, bouncing onto the mattress to Nick's right, who lazily threw the condom somewhere on the floor. Both lying on their backs, they had their eyes halfway closed and tried to catch their breaths, lips parted and grins sloppily sprawled over their faces. Jeff reached down and took a hold of the brunet's hand, lacing their fingers together and folding his elbow so they were in the air, hovering over and between their bodies. Through thick lashes Nick gazed at his boyfriend's fingers gently playing with his and with his last bit of energy he leaned over and pecked Jeff's shoulder.

They were finally bonded on every level; this was where he belonged, and he was only beginning to realize how much he really needed this crazy blond hurricane.. _My second half._


	24. Epilogue

In a house in Connecticut there were two people sitting in the middle of a dusty old room, the walls filled with shelves of books and pictures. At least a dozen of them were scattered around an old man with white hair, seated in a dark red wing chair, and a blonde little girl. She had been picking out books for hours now, letting her Grandfather explain every single one individually.

They'd come to one of the last ones in her main pile. It was dustier and grayer than the others; that's why she'd picked it in the first place. It also looked a lot older; which was true, since it was at least thirty or forty years older than most of the others. It had a funny looking bird on the cover and when she handed it over, a wrinkly smile spread across her Grandfather's face.

Patiently, she sat to his feet and waited for the story. With a sigh, he opened the book and blew some dust away. "Now this one, sweetie, is very special to me." He looked intently into her curious little face. "Because it started something very special." He turned the pages and motioned her to come closer. "Here, see!" There were pictures of a bunch of boys, all dressed in uniforms, and he pointed at a young blond with dark eyes. "That is me," he said, a smile tugging on his lips. Then his fingers moved a little further down to a boy with dark hair and his smile grew even more. "And that.. That is your Grandpa Nick."

  
  


*

  
  


A few weeks after getting together, the yearbook had been done and ready. Nick and Jeff went to the library during study hall to take a first glance at it in private. The blond was sitting at a table, holding the book in both his hands, while Nick looked over his shoulder. Jeff held his breath and opened it. The Warblers were easy to find, being on the third page and all. And there _they_ were. Both of them, with all their friends.

"I told you, Jeff. Nothing to be nervous about.." Nick smiled and gave his boyfriend a gentle kiss on the cheek. "You look absolutely beautiful."

“I love you.”

Nick gaped at his boyfriend. Wow. He stuttered, but simultaneously wrapped his arms around Jeff's neck to look him straight in the eye. “I-I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> xoxoxo


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